Farmers to be Provided with Tractor Service at Affordable Rates

The Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) will be providing tractor service to farmers across the island.
The initiative will enable farmers to access land preparation services at affordable rates.
Addressing a JIS Think Tank today (May 21), Chief Executive Officer of RADA, Al Powell, noted that “traditionally for many farmers, the most sophisticated tools are machete and fork (but) with the use of tractors, tilling of land is five times cheaper. Tractors will therefore help to increase efficiency in the sector.”
He said that personnel will be trained in each parish to operate the tractors and that smaller “walk-behind” machines will be provided for hilly areas.
Mr. Powell said that RADA’s service to the sector had also been boosted with the assignment of marketing officers in each parish. The move, he said, has significantly improved market access for produce and has eliminated the need for dumping due to production gluts.
Data collection will also be improved shortly with field officers being equipped with laptops for more efficient processing and collection of production data, he added.
The RADA CEO further cited the doubling of extension officers, assignment of livestock offices for each parish and recent installation of a toll free line, as further initiatives to improve service to farmers.
On Labour Day, RADA personnel will be deployed islandwide to offer technical support at project sites and they will be working along with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.
RADA will also be distributing 30,000 plants islandwide for Labour Day projects.