The Editor Sir,

This is my response to a news item of June 4, headlined, 'PM blasts G8 on food crisis'.

According to the news item, Prime Minister Bruce Golding addressed JLP supporters on Sunday (June 1) and said that the leaders of the G8 had fallen asleep while the world's poorer countries were suffering from daily increases in food prices. He went on to say:

"The world is in a crisis and I'm absolutely amazed that up until now the world has not woken up to say, 'Hey, we have a problem!' and I am amazed that the leaders of the world, particularly the leaders of the eight most developed countries, have not yet found it necessary to convene a meeting to say: 'Now, gentlemen, this thing is affecting all of us. It is going to [impact] the world in such a way that it may take us 15 or 20 years to recover. We cannot allow it to happen'."

Followed with: "I must express my own disappointment, my own chagrin, at what is happening globally. Food riots have broken out in almost 40 countries across the world, including countries like Egypt and the Philippines. What is happening is not just a blip, it's not just a little phase that [will] soon pass. What is happening is undermining the economic structures of the world and I am amazed that the world has not yet seen it fit to meet ..."

Reconcile these statements

I am trying hard, but without much success, to reconcile these statements with what is happening with our own agriculture and food production. Especially as the prime minister said in a letter to The Gleaner on November 4, 2000:

"Mr Martin Henry's column, 'Sick soil for agriculture?', is most timely. Mr Mark Brooks has been a lone voice in the wilderness calling attention to the devastating effects of soil pathogens on agricultural yields. He may very well have put his finger on the primary cause of the inefficiencies in our agricultural sector. Mr Brooks was kind enough to furnish me with considerable research literature on the subject. So impressed was I with the quality of research that he has assembled that we invited him yesterday to make a presentation on the matter to our Shadow Cabinet.

"The deafening silence and zero-response of the Government to an issue that has such alarming implications is inexplicable. The Ministry of Agriculture should long ago have established a task force with our best research scientists and agronomists working in conjunction with our universities to determine the extent of the problem, how best to treat it and how to inculcate soil fumigation as a natural part of our agricultural practices ..."

Disappointment

Prime Minister, I must express my own disappointment at what is happening locally. Our agriculture output has been declining since 1967 and it is a very real cause for the undermining of our economy. The primary cause for this comes from the "devastating effects of soil pathogens on agricultural yields". Right now, if you could see with your own eyes, the crops that are 'dropping dead' in South St Elizabeth, you would say, "Hey, we have a problem!"

I am amazed that our leaders have not found it necessary to convene a meeting with our best research scientists (such as Prof Phyllis Coates-Beckford of UWI) to examine the problem and formulate plans exactly as you described in 2000.

Prime Minister, this "lone voice in the wilderness" business needs to change to you leading the way with "Now, gentlemen, this thing is affecting all of us."

I am, etc.,

MARK BROOKS