Crop Over is losing its true meaning as a national festival, moving away from its roots as a celebration of agricultural achievement, the head of the Barbados Agricultural Society James Paul has said.

He expressed concern that the festival’s connection to the end of the sugar harvest and domestic crop production has faded over time.

He told Barbados TODAY: ​”Crop Over started as a celebration of the harvest, and when you are harvesting, you must have product to harvest. Unfortunately, there is that separation that has happened, and it has lost its meaning when it comes to the whole question of celebrating achievement in terms of agricultural production.”