Bermuda's open spaces free from development.

And at a meeting with some of the Island's farmers this week, he also suggested that he would like to see factory farming and new technology play a bigger role in farming practices.

Speaking to a packed and enthusiastic audience at the Botanical Gardens last night, Mr. Hodgson said: "There are two areas in which I would like to see a change in farming in Bermuda. One is to do with the sociological and aesthetic factors.

"Even though I am not in the building business I find it painful to watch other people building on arable land and therefore insuring that arable land continues to be arable is one of the problems I'm addressing my mind to and if there's anything I can do by way of policy I will be doing it.

"The other thing I am interested in encouraging is factory farming. Farmers say that they have a hard life because they have to depend on the weather but nowadays you don't have to. Hopefully we will be able to see a much greater production and utilisation of our resources.'' Mr. Hodgson then listened to farmers' concerns, which centred around the issue of embargoes.

Some farmers angrily declared that wholesalers were buying in huge amounts of foreign produce just before an embargo is imposed, enabling them to continue selling foreign vegetables even when banned from doing so.

Another concern was the problem of feral chickens which, some farmers claimed, were ruining thousands of dollars of crops a week.

And others also claimed that they should not have to pay the same work permit fee for a farm labourer as massive international companies which make millions of dollars a year.

Mr. Hodgson replied that while he needed to "get a handle on the direction of farming in Bermuda'' there were other factors to be considered, including the needs of the consumer and wholesaler.

"I recognise that there are locations in which production is far greater than Bermuda for a number of reasons and because production is greater you can probably get a pumpkin cheaper in California than here,'' he said.