The conference room of the Melville Street Fish market was packed to capacity with some farmers having to stand outside as the Ministry of Agriculture organised its fourth in a series of parish meetings.. Over 250 farmers in the parish of St. Georges attend the meeting, to hear from the Ministers of Agriculture Hon. Gregory Bowen and Hon. Roland Bhola, other officials and officers from the Ministry. Minister Bowen in his opening statement thanked the farmers for taking the time to come to the meeting in such large numbers. Minister Bowen went on to outline some of the areas of assistance that they are planning to continue to give to the farmers and talk extensively on what has been done since the passage of Hurricane Ivan. The Minister spoke about the Agricultural Emergency Rehabilitation Project (AERP), Irrigation, Pest management, Squatting, Forestry and National Parks, Fishing and Praedial Larceny Assistance from international donors like FAOU, USAID. One of the main areas of concern for the farmers in St. George’s was praedial larceny. The topic dominated the discussion; farmers complained that they have been experiencing heavy losses as a result of Praedial larceny. Present at the meeting was Supt Toussaint of the R.G.P.F. who assured the farmers that everything is being done to combat this problem and appealed for the cooperation of farmers. Some farmers said that they know who is stealing their produce but are afraid to make the report because of possible repercussions. Once again the problem of not being paid outstanding moneys owned to farm workers continues to be an issue. Lack of inputs and the fact that not enough extension officers are available to serve the number of farmers was another concern raised Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Forestry, Fisheries, Energy, Public Utilities, MNIB.