The Tribune

The Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI) last week took potential industry partners to its North Andros facilities as part of efforts to revamp its business model.

Representatives from major hotels, large retail grocery stores, restaurant chains and wholesalers were brought in to see first-hand how BAMSI is run, what farm practices are in place, and to assess the quality of produce and whether the forecasted yields were accurate.

The group toured the research and tutorial farm, the livestock division, the aquaponics centre, packing house and Morgan’s Bluff docking facility.

“Our new focus will be on forming relationships with the wholesale sector and industry stakeholders, such as large hotels and restaurants,” Tennyson Wells, BAMSI’s president, said. “The purpose of this tour is to offer potential partners and stakeholders a first-hand view of BAMSI’s facilities. Our hope is that this trip will reinforce our ability and commitment to selling select, quality items on a scheduled basis.”

BAMSI’s new business model calls for potential buyers to contract for certain produce based on the institute’s ability to offer forecasted yields, and also ensure the quality and quantity of produce are in line with industry standards.

At present, the institute brings to market approximately a dozen individual crops, ranging from the “Bahamian Trio” of tomato, sweet pepper and onions to broccoli, cauliflower, okra, pumpkin and zucchini.

BAMSI, in its bid to become sustainable and deliver positive, stable growth, is focusing on adopting industry best practices, employing technological innovations and a fully-trained staff, and improving its fiscal responsibility. It has also developed a new marketing platform.

Mr Wells said farm staff were working with an agricultural consultant to research a number of variables that could positively impact sales, including a new grading system and identifying the true cost of production.

BAMSI’s farm co-ordinator, Stephen Adderley, said: “We are currently looking at the cost of production for crops so that we can determine the feasibility of growing that crop because, at the end of day, it’s about the dollars. Crops that have a problem making a profit, we can either change our growing practices, utilise new technology that would change the production cost or eliminate that crop from rotation entirely.”

Mr Adderley added that many countries import food items that are too costly to produce. He pointed to Canada as an example, saying it imports a lot of its onions - particularly during the winter season - because the crop is just too expensive to produce during that time. The imported crops are simply stored until they are sold to the consumer.