Government Approves 106 New Leases for 1,590 Acres to Produce a Variety of Crops
By: , April 25, 2024
Photo: Rudranath Fraser
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green (second right) and Managing Director, Jamaica Flour Mills, Derrick Nembhard (second left), display the signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) among the Sugar Company of Jamaica Holdings Limited (SCJ), Jamaica Flour Mills and the University of the West Indies/SODECO. Under the MOU, the SCJ will lease 725 acres of land in Clarendon to Jamaica Flour Mills and UWI/SODECO for the purposes of cultivating breadfruit, roots and tubers that will be used by the Jamaica Flour Mills to produce gluten-free flour. Sharing the occasion are (from left) Chief Scientist, University of the West Indies/SODECO, Professor Terrence Forrester; and Chief Executive Officer, Sugar Company of Jamaica Holdings, Joseph Shoucair. The signing took place at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, in St. Andrew, on April 25.The Full Story
The Government has approved 106 new leases covering approximately 1,590 acres of former sugar lands that will be used to produce a variety of crops across several parishes.
The parishes are St. Catherine, Clarendon, St. Thomas, Trelawny and Westmoreland.
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green, provided an update on the repurposing of former sugar lands during the ceremony for the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), at the Ministry’s Hope Gardens offices in St. Andrew, on April 25.
The lands will be used to produce a variety of crops, including onions, pumpkins, green leafy vegetables, peppers, cassava, sweet potatoes as well as orchard crops – mangoes, coconuts, ackee, papaya, breadfruit, aquaculture and livestock rearing.
“We are really moving now to repurpose our former sugar lands to increase production and productivity,” the Minister said.
He noted that a number of initiatives are being used to reshape former sugar lands to drive economic growth, job creation and to foster and facilitate entrepreneurship.
The Minister informed additional details will be provided on other projects that are to be announced.
“Our goal is to move agriculture forward, but we want to accelerate the pace of growth over the next few years and the only way we can do that is by the Government being a facilitator,” Mr. Green said.
“So, we have to look at our lands that we have under our charge and see how we can provide those lands on terms that will drive investment, so that is critical and that is what is happening in this project,” he added.
The MOU was signed by the Sugar Company of Jamaica Holdings Limited, (SCJ), Jamaica Flour Mills and the University of the West Indies/SODECO.
Under the MOU, the SCJ will lease 725 acres of land in Clarendon to Jamaica Flour Mills and UWI/SODECO for the purposes of cultivating breadfruit, roots and tubers that will be used by the Jamaica Flour Mills to produce gluten-free flour.
Additionally, 20 acres are being reserved to establish a processing plant in the area.
The project will be developed in phases.
UWI/SODECO is an international research entity located in Jamaica at The University of the West Indies, Mona.