AGRICULTURAL subsidies have not worked and should be phased out.

That is the view of Economic Development president Deputy Gerald Voisin.

But he stressed that this should be a gradual process.

He did not advocate the ‘New Zealand model’ of removing all farming subsidies at a stroke.

Speaking at the Country Crossroads Forum at the JEP West Show, he said: ‘We have to look very long and hard at the existing policies and move away from the idea of paying subsidies to farmers.

It hasn’t worked in Jersey’s case at all, and despite subsidies we are here today – at a country crossroads.’ In his presentation to an audience composed mainly of the Island’s rural community, he said: ‘The future of the countryside cannot continue to depend on the precarious fortunes of the agriculture industry.

Making the countryside the exclusive preserve of the industry will provide no security for our rural environment.’