An overseas expert in agriculture is to help Bermuda’s farmers this year, according to Walter Roban, the home affairs minister.

He said that Stewart Swanson, who worked during the 1990s as an agricultural officer for Bermuda, will return to the island in the coming financial year.

He added that farmers had been calling for the hiring of an agronomist for “a considerable amount of time”.

Mr Roban said that in the coming fiscal year the Government would give “direct support to farmers via a highly experienced consultant agronomist”.

He said that the consultant would be aided by a local trainee to “prioritise addressing the sector's needs”, highlighting “soil management, pest and disease surveillance, procurement of seeds and supplies, and developing a trial variety programme”.

Mr Roban added that the price tag for the programme would come out during the Budget debate.

He said that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, with the Board of Agriculture, will update the island’s agriculture strategy, including “new livestock, poultry, honey and aquaculture components”.

Mr Roban added that the Agriculture Act 1930 would get updated, including a move to register farmers to help stamp out the persistent sale of stolen crops.

The department will help farmers with boosted surveillance of their fields and “improved enforcement” against crop thefts, he said.