By INDERIA SAUNDERS, Guardian Business Desk, Inderia@nasguard.com

One thing is clear, says the president of the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corp: This country has no intention of riding the wave of biofuel crop production.

In the words of Edison Key: "We need to concentrate more on producing food to supply the nation rather than thinking about developing energy from plant life of any kind. We need to concentrate on feeding ourselves right now."

His assessment comes as Bahamians feel the pinch of soaring gas prices, which reached an unprecedented $5.34 a gallon this week. They're also grappling with a 3.7 percent spike in food prices, in large part driven by the diversion of farm crops away from the food supply chain and into biofuel production, a move that has created grain shortages across the world, and for Key and others in the BAIC has brought home the importance of protecting and growing this country's own food production.

"Right now conditions in the world warrants us moving swiftly into the area of agriculture, not just corn and soybean for ethanol," Key told Guardian Business Tuesday. "We got to look at crops where we can be self- sufficient in, in short order because things are tightening up.

"Rice is becoming scarce and the price of energy is soaring."

The BAIC views reflect the current state of this nation's food supply, at this point totally dependent on imports. It is a reliance that recommends keeping arable land in The Bahamas focused on growing food crops not those earmarked for ethanol production, albeit more lucrative.

Nonetheless, those better prices for corn earmarked for biofuel may ultimately persuade some Bahamian farmers to switch over. In doing so, they'd be following the lead of their U.S. counterparts.

In 2006 ethanol claimed 20 percent of the U.S. corn crop, up from six percent the year before. The effect has been to lower global food production and spark protectionist moves by governments around the world, concerned food prices may ultimately lead to increasing starvation.

Already, certain parts of Asia have started restricting their rice exports and are considering increasing the taxes on such imports.

It is a situation that Key said they are all well aware of, although this relatively wealthy country won't likely face the kind of pressures the rest of the developing world must now grapple with.

Still there are real concerns about protecting what little food is currently grown here.

"We are trying to fast forward the agricultural sector here," said Key, a former farmer. "We just need to get serious because you cannot live without food and water.

"I can live without oil."

Furthermore, he said there are other reasons why the nation can't seriously produce ethanol, namely, its limited acreage. Key said to grow such crops en mass production would require much of the current farm land.

The Bahamian landscape may in fact lend itself to developing other alternative sources of energy, which would reduce our dependence on all as well as further diversify our tourism-dependent economy.

The government will likely look to wind and solar power, said Key, who, at the same time, sees crop production growing to meet local demand. "We can become self- sufficient, timewise, in a year or 18 months."