Police are investigating yet another incident of praedial larceny after a farmer in All Saints reported the theft of a bundle of sugar cane, valued at approximately $300 EC, from his farm.
According to reports, the farmer discovered the theft on October 9, 2025, after returning from work and noticing that the produce had been taken. Officers from the All Saints Police Station responded, and interviews were conducted with several individuals in the area, but no useful information was obtained. Investigations are ongoing.
The incident is the latest in a series of similar reports across the island, underscoring the persistent challenge of praedial larceny, a problem that continues to frustrate local farmers and threaten agricultural livelihoods.
Farmers have repeatedly appealed for tougher penalties and more active patrols in rural communities to curb the theft of crops and livestock, which often occurs under cover of darkness or during working hours when farms are unattended.
Agricultural stakeholders say that while the monetary value of each theft may appear small, the cumulative impact on farmers is significant, affecting income, morale, and food security.
As investigations continue, authorities are urging residents to report suspicious activity and to support efforts aimed at protecting local food production from theft and loss.
Unless someone chops off the thief hand or give them a bullet they probably will never learn. For the life of me I can’t understand how people just feel entitled to other people belongings
Local farmers are understandably angry and frustrated. Especially those in ANtigua because remember we doh have no water. So our produce are crying out…many of them work long hours under the sun, only to have their hard-earned produce stolen overnight. “It might be just $300 in sugar cane to some people, but that’s weeks of work,”. Sometimes by the time we get to St Johns market them produce spoil. We will have to camp out at our farms and kill people
Seem as if we farmers working for them tief
Comment *there is a solar powered sim equipped camera system for remote areas, mounting it on a 25 ft steel pole. Farmers should purchase these to protect their investment and hard labor.
Officers say they face a difficult task when it comes to catching these culprits, since farms are often isolated and poorly lit, with no surveillance
We hear ‘investigation ongoing’ every blasted time. Nobody ever get charge. So people feel dem can do it again and again. Until one farmer decide to defend he property and then police want charge him! Something wrong in this system, man
Agricultural officials may see this as yet another reminder that the fight against praedial larceny requires technology… not just manpower. Calls are growing for the Ministry of Agriculture to introduce farm ID systems, produce-tracking laws, and subsidized CCTV or motion-sensor lights for rural areas. Some even suggest reviving the Agricultural Protection Unit, which was more active years ago.
$300 in cane today, next week it’s yams, next month it’s goat or chicken. Police need to stop treating this like small thing! It’s man’s livelihood! Start catching dem and make dem spend some time in 1735 let dem feel what it’s like to sweat for something
They need to start treating praedial larceny like any other serious crime, not a petty one.
Farmers already struggling with weather and costs, now this. It’s not fair. They need better protection.
You tief people cane and mash up dem work, you fi get punished right there. People done tired every day is larceny, and the farmer can’t even break even. Government need to step up and protect agriculture — this is food, not joke!
Everybody talking bout food security and buy local, but how that go happen when thief dem tek everyting before market day? Man go work whole day and come home see the field empty! You know how that feel? Heartbreak
Man will get chap up if they touch my stuff