RADA Implementing ID System

The Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) is currently implementing an identification (ID) system that will complement the existing Agro-Business Information System (ABIS) and the registration of farmers, the anti-praedial larceny initiative of the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS).
In an interview with JIS News, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Manager at RADA, Gary Campbell said the main purpose of instituting the ID system went beyond providing farmers with an identification tool, but to assist them in benefiting from various discounts being offered by several entities. Additionally, the ID will recognize all farmers as member of the ABIS registration initiative.
The ID will be valid for three years and will cost the farmer approximately $350. It can be obtained at any RADA regional office, where farmers must first get registered under the ABIS system.
“One of the things it will help with is identifying them [farmers]. If they are stopped by the police when transporting their produce, having the ID would be a benefit to them, because it would help to identify him or her as a genuine farmer,” he said.
The IDs are currently available and are being rolled out on an on-going basis in all parishes. The ID and the receipt book are essential for all farmers who wish to trade in agricultural products.
“We are encouraging farmers to get registered; it will soon become law where you have to get registered in order to sell produce, and if you are not registered, you are not entitled to get an ID,” he stressed.
Funded by the Government the European Union, ABIS was introduced in 1998, to establish and operate a database driven system to process data on stakeholders and their activities; to be a repository of technical information from new research and tried and proven cultural practices; to assist stakeholders to buy and sell produce and production inputs; and to predict key agricultural variables.