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DEVELOPMENT FUND
MINISTRY OF ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT, BELIZE
Prepared by
Many Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) codes, standards and regulations have
been developed in recent years by the food industry and producers organizations.
In Belize, the Government and the Ministry of Agriculture have begun to place
standards on agricultural practices at farm level for a range of commodities. Some
of these guidelines are in fulfillment of trade and international requirements with
regard to food safety and quality. Other agencies like the Belize Sugarcane
Farmers are following more specific requirements of specialty or niche markets
like Fairtrade. The objective of these GAP codes, standards and regulations revolve
around:
These practices, when implemented by the majority of farmers, will lead to:
The economical and efficient production of sufficient, safe and nutritious
food
The sustainable use of natural resources
The maintenance of viable farming enterprises thereby contributing to
sustainable livelihoods
The maintenance of cultural and social norms
Belize already has well defined GAP/Eurogap compliance modes. The Belize
Agricultural Health Authority (BAHA) is the recognized agency overseeing GAP
compliance. So what does all this mean in everyday English? The term "good
agricultural practices" is used to refer to widely varying operations, from
monitoring of pesticides use, to aspects of primary production and post harvest
systems, such as the environmental impact of your farm operations or labour
conditions.
The object of this manual/course is to focus on "food safety and quality GAPs "that
can induce more sustainable farming practices as opposed to the so-called "food
security or sustainability GAPs".
and
Farm Management
This aspect of the manual/course provides participants with the tools to pay
attention to detail on all aspects of managing the total farm operation. Farm
management is a learned set of skills that allows the manager to make informed
decisions and to implement changes that will move the operation toward its goals.
The CARDl facilitator will introduce Farm Management as a decision-making
activity that will help you decide how you go about your farming business. The
basic decisions of the farming business are:
(a) What to produce or what combination of different enterprises to follow?
(b) How much to produce and what is the most profitable level of production?
(c) What should be the size of an individual enterprise, which, in turn, will
determine the best overall size of the farm business?
(d) What methods of production (production practices or what type of quality of
inputs and their combination) should be used?
(e) What and where to market?
applicable, and for livestock, are criteria for GAP. Efficient irrigation technologies
and management will minimize waste and will avoid excessive leaching and
salinization. Water tables should be managed to prevent excessive rise or fall.
Good Agricultural Practices related to water will include:
improving soil structure and increasing soil organic matter content; that will
help the soil hold more water and reduces the frequency with which water
has to be applied
applying only those production inputs (including waste or recycled products
of organic, inorganic and synthetic nature) that will not contaminate of water
resources
monitoring crop and soil water status through the use of simple techniques
like sample rolling or through the use of electronic probes
accurately scheduling irrigation
routinely checking the quality of water from on-farm wells and managing
water tables to prevent excessive extraction
preventing soil salinization by adopting water-saving measures and recycling where possible
providing adequate, safe, clean watering points for livestock in extensive,
open range systems
using drip irrigation techniques as opposed to sprinkler systems
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competition
mechanical
biological
herbicide options
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on the landscape
on the environment
with regard to animal welfare
of biological, chemical, and physical contamination of pasture, feed,
water, and the atmosphere
stock acquisitions
breeding crosses
losses
sales
feeding plans
choice of feed
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and safety are also important concerns for everyone involved in farming
operations. Due care and diligence is required at all times. With regard to
agricultural workers, the International Labour Organisation in collaboration with
governments, employers and trade unions, has developed core conventions on
labour including codes of practice for agriculture. The convention on Labour
Inspection was ratified by Belize on 15 December 1983 however C184 Safety and
Health in Agriculture Convention 2001, has not yet been ratified.
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Good Agricultural Practices related to human welfare, health and safety will
include:
The provision of safe work procedures with acceptable working hours and
allowance for rest periods
Instructing of workers in the safe and efficient use of tools and machinery
The payment of reasonable wages
Treating workers fairly and not exploiting them, especially women
Purchasing inputs and other services from local merchants where possible
and practicable
Exercising a sense of social responsibility as demonstrated by equal concern
for economic and community goals
A policy on food security and food sovereignty
Harvest and On-farm Processing and Storage
Product quality also depends upon implementation of acceptable protocols for
harvesting, storage, and where appropriate, processing of farm products.
Harvesting must conform to regulations relating to pre-harvest intervals for
agrochemicals and withholding periods for veterinary medicines. Food produce
should be stored under appropriate conditions of temperature and humidity in
space designed and reserved for that purpose. Operations involving animals, such
as milking and slaughter, must meet animal health and welfare standards.
Good Agricultural Practices related to harvest and on-farm processing and storage
will include:
Purchasing produce-appropriate containers for all transporting and storing
operations
Training field staff to recognize maturity indices
Harvesting fruits and vegetables at the appropriate times to easily reduce
field heat
Harvesting food products following relevant pre-harvest intervals and
withholding periods especially when agrichemicals have been used
providing clean and safe infrastructure for on-farm processing of products
(designated areas shoul be
using recommended detergents and clean water to sanitize produce
storing food products under hygienic and appropriate environmental
conditions
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packing food produce for transport within and from the farm in clean and
appropriate containers
using methods of pre-slaughter handling and slaughter that are humane and
appropriate for each species
supervising and training of workers on the maintenance of equipment
Farm Management
Farm management deals with the organization and operation of the farm to
maximize profits from the farm business every year, to keep abreast of changes in
methods, price variability and available resources.
Farm management is the science that deals with:
However, farm management does not only deal exclusively with the maximization
of income. In fact, it is supposed to take into takes into account the goals,
objectives and requirements, i.e. food, fodder, fuel and fiber of the individual
farmer other than income maximization. So, this discipline deals with people or
organizers and decision-makers in respect of farms and agricultural production. It
is people oriented rather than directed at crops or livestock only.
Farm management is a decision-making science. It helps to decide the basic course
of action of the farming business. The basic decisions of the farming business are:
1. What to produce or what combination of different enterprises to follow?
2. How much to produce and what is the most profitable enterprise?
3. What should the size of an individual enterprise, which, in turn, will
determine the best overall size of the farm business?
4. What methods of production (production practices or the quality of inputs
and their combination) should be used?
5. What and where to market?
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Management of a Farm
Here the concern is not just the distribution of labour and irrigation water for dayto-day operations, but the emphasis is on the decision-making function of
evaluating and choosing between alternative strategies.
You will need to be adaptable and versatile, as you will be expected to carry out
practical farm skills as well as maintain financial records and develop
comprehensive short and long-term property management strategies.
Organisational skills and the ability to plan ahead are also important, as you have
to apply different strategies to protect yourself from unpredictable changes in the
market for agricultural products. Such strategies might include carefully planning
the combination of crops grown, so that if the price of one crop drops, sufficient
income can be yielded from other crops. In some cases, livestock can be kept, and
crops stored, in order to take advantage of better prices at a later time.
Setting Production Goals
One of the first tasks of a farm manager is to decide on what to produce. Many of
the possible choices will have to be based on the amount of resources you have,
land, labour, money, water etc. Your choice may be limited by the weather or the
availability or cost of certain inputs.
Your basic plan will set out how much you want to produce. Your business plan
does not have to be as formal a document as that you would prepare to approach a
bank for a loan. Basically you want to include:
Choice of produce
Marketing arrangements
Production arrangements
Financial management
Choice of Produce
This stage can be characterized by writing down a number of possibilities that
interest you either for cultural, financial or social reasons. You must make a
decision about the extent to which you will be involved with the product. If you
decide on Papaya, are you going to sell the green and turning fruit directly at the
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market or are you going to sell seedlings or are you going to vacuum seal the
papaya slices. If you decided on pigs, are you going to just do fattening and buy
all your piglets or are you going to have farrowed sows and standing boars.
Marketing Arrangements
You do not want to fall in to the trap of producing something and then scampering
to find someone to buy it. Whilst it is advisable to sell your produce under some
form of contractual arrangement, that is not always possible. You have to
determine exactly how you are going to attempt to sell your produce and at around
what price. If you do not have historical data on the price at this time of year then
you should talk to officials at the Ministries of Trade and Agriculture, You need an
idea of the price for similar products . You must have a fair idea of who is likely
to buy your product and what they consider value .. even texture, uniform
colour, flavour etc.
Your understanding of the market helps to keep all your other activities on track.
Every thing you do on the farm is geared towards producing a quality product
based on what your market wants. Very early in the game you must confirm what
cultivar or breed is the desired type and how and where your market wants it
delivered.
Production Arrangements
At this stage all your skills are going to be tested. You already know what the
market wants; now you have to use all the resources at your command to achieve
it. You must now collect all the inputs and use them in accordance with the
methods you have learnt to husband the plants and/or animals. You have to
schedule operations, preferably in written form (or electronically on your
computer) so you do not have to rely on memory. All of the Good Agricultural
Practices that are applicable should be used.
Ideally, you should plan all your routine operations. Given the risks in agricultural
production there will always be events that require emergency or non-routine
operations. This is one instance where you will value the records that are being
kept. You can search your records to see if you ever encountered a similar
problem or to locate likely sources of assistance.
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keep track of the money you spent and what you owe. Throughout the Caribbean
farmers have been incorrectly calculating their cost of production by not accurately
measuring actual expenditure. Only with proper records can you keep track of all
the costs associated with the crop or growout. Common errors include thinking
that all the cash spent at the time of the crop are real costs to that crop. If you
bought $200 worth of fertilizer during the crop it is usual to assume that the entire
$200 should be made from profit on that crop. Usually there is about half of the
bag of fertilizer left . that means that only $100 worth of fertilizer was used on
the crop. Mistakes like these are avoided when accurate records are kept.
You can track financial flows through entries in the records showing who was paid
what, for each task. Proper record keeping also allows you to cost activities for
which no money exchanged hands. Very often farmers do not record the value of
family labour or that of friends. A false sense of profit may be attributed to that
activity which can fall flat on the occasions when you have to pay for it.
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