…for greater efficiency and enhanced services in agri sector
A Bill is expected to be tabled this week in the National Assembly to allow for the creation of the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI), the result of significant restructuring and modernization of the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI).
Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud said with the changes, the focus will be on providing greater efficiency in the crops and agricultural product industry and enhanced services in agricultural research, extension and crop protection.
According to him, the creation of NAREI is part of the agriculture sector’s paradigm shift required for expanding the ever-changing sector.
“NARI’s role has been traditionally in respect of research. The new NAREI’s role will be more encompassing and will include crop protection and a modern extension service,” he said.
The minister explained that the new institute’s structure will see changes in leadership and the board will comprise 13 directors representing the Government and interest groups.
Supporting the agricultural research, extension and crop protection functions will be Programme Advisory Committees.
Persaud said the board will appoint and determine the terms and conditions for appointment of three sub-committees: the Research Programme Advisory Committee, the Extension Programme Advisory Committee and the Crop Protection Advisory Committee.
“These committees will be expected to provide the board with advice on matters of agricultural research, extension and crop protection, as the case may be; or on any matter relating to the board’s functions for which advice is needed by the Directors,” he said.
When asked about funding for the Institute’s work, Persaud said NAREI will be mainly funded “initially” by subventions received from the Government through the Consolidated Fund.
“In time, it is expected that revenues obtained by charging fees for services provided will facilitate sustainability for the Institute. It is expected that these revenues will be increased proportionately to the extent of the increase in exports of crop products,” he said.

Greater Focus

The Agriculture Minister made it clear that research will be provided with greater funding and improved facilities.
He said, “The focus of research would be in relation to those crops and products that have export potential. But greater emphasis will be placed on capture and transfer of technology.”
According to him, both agricultural research and extension will now be under one organization and will facilitate greater and faster interaction between the disciplines.
“Farmers’ issues and questions will get to the researchers more easily and will be accessed by the farmers more readily,” he said.
Persaud noted that budgetary allocations for research and extension will depend on the existing circumstance at any one time.
He acknowledged that the Institute as an agency has not traditionally been an extension agency, but maintained that NAREI will effectively take on this responsibility.
“The organizational structure recognizes the distinctions between the various agricultural disciplines, but allows for the harmonization and smoother functioning of what is essentially one engine…the engine that will stimulate and energize the agricultural sector into the 21st century,” he said.

NAREI and the Farmers on the Ground

Persaud stated that NAREI will bring more to the local farmers.
He said the new Institute is expected to be a more efficient and proactive agency, responsible to an export-driven agriculture sector and consolidate food security especially, in the hinterland.
“It will address all areas of plant health, research and extension in a manner that cannot be accommodated under the traditional public service system,” Persaud said.
He observed that this endeavour will immediately involve:
* The rehabilitation of quarantine facilities at ports
* The establishment of a new biological control laboratory
* The rehabilitation and upgrading of the biotechnology laboratory for increased capacity for the production of seedlings by tissue culture
* The rehabilitation and upgrading of the seed technology and storage facilities, and
* The upgrading of the legislation aspects related to areas of plant health and food safety to meet international standards.
“The primary expected impact of the new NAREI will be the development of a robust agro-export sector. An enhanced agency with dedicated and efficient staff will be able to provide improved services, which are being increasingly demanded in the arena of international trade,” Persaud posited.

In a recent interview, Director of NARI, Dr. Oudho Homenauth, noted that the Institute’s response, to date, has been based on market demands.
“We do not do things in a haphazard way, just because we feel like,” the NARI Director said.
Homenauth said the whole idea behind NARI’s efforts is to impact the livelihoods of farmers to enhance their activities, and consequently their financial rewards.
“Modernizing the sector is the bottom line…the farmers will benefit from the technologies we develop to improve their profit margins and modernize their operations,” he said.
Homenauth said, essentially, NARI does research, development, and then takes it to the farmers – the grassroots people who need it and who fuel the development of the sector on a whole.
The research institute was established in 1985.