Ministry of Agriculture tours production facilities in Orange Walk

By Zoila Palma:  Rodwell Ferguson, Minister of Agriculture, Food Security and New Growth Industries, and Luis, Alex Balona, Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture, participated in a two-day tour of the Orange Walk District on June 17 and 18.

Ministers Ferguson and Balona began the tour at several production facilities in Blue Creek. They first went to Northern Grains Co-operative Ltd. Soybean Factory, where they toured the production facilities and saw samples of some of the finished products.

They then went to Hilltop Prime Meats processing plant, a new meat processor that processes beef and pork, and provides them to outlets all over the country, with the next stop being the Caribbean Chicken processing plant. Caribbean Chicken also distributes chicken and chicken products across the country from its headquarters in Blue Creek, Orange Walk.

The tour then continued with a visit to Golden Products Papaya Plant, a producer and exporter of papaya fruit to the US market, and also made a field visit to farmers in the Indian Creek area planting soybeans.

Day two began with the Ministers attending a brief familiarization meeting with the Orange Walk District Agriculture Station Staff. They then participated in a handing-over ceremony for materials to the Orange Walk and Corozal Agriculture stations. These materials will be used to enhance the work done by the Extension Service in these districts as they assist farmers throughout the North.

The Ministers and senior officers of the Ministry then visited Caribbean International Brewery, located in Carmelita Village, taking a tour of the company’s ramen noodle and flour production facilities, as well as its drinking water production and brewery. They then visited the farm of Andres Cima, a Sustainable and Inclusive Belize project beneficiary, and continued to the Northern Dairy Farmers Cheese production facility in Shipyard, a recently established cheese-making facility that distributes countrywide. In the afternoon, they visited Green Hills Farm, where cattle rancher John Wall took them on a tour of his ranch facilities.

Ministers Ferguson and Balona were joined at the CIB facilities by Kevin Bernard, Minister of Health and Wellness and Area Rep. of Orange Walk East. They were also joined in the tour’s two-day activities by Jose Mai. Area Rep., Orange Walk South.

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