Additional RADA Extension Officers Being Recruited

Agriculture Minister, Dr. Christopher Tufton, has announced plans to recruit 74 additional Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) extension officers, who will be stationed across the island to provide assistance to farmers.
Speaking at one in a series of islandwide farmers’ fora, at the Lucea Parish Church Hall in Hanover on September 17, Dr. Tufton said one of the benefits of recruiting additional personnel, was that this would enable the Ministry to assign a marketing officer to each parish, to assist farmers with the marketing of their produce, as well as an officer to administer animal health care.
The Minister commended the farmers for their efforts at sustaining the nation’s food supply, noting that they had not been selfish in this regard.
“I know you do not work only for yourselves.. and as a result of your work (we) have food to eat, and that is something that must be recognised. If it were not for your efforts, then we would have to depend solely on imports, and you and I have seen, over the last year, what imports have done to us here in Jamaica,” he said.
The Minister stressed that it was the farmers who had “rescued” the country’s consumers, when the prices of imported goods had pushed their affordability beyond the reach of many Jamaicans.
Noting the developments which have been undertaken in the tourism sector in Hanover, Dr. Tufton lamented what he said was the placement of agriculture on the back burner by some persons, in search of more assured income. He argued, however, that both sectors can co-exist, as the agricultural sector was capable of meeting tourism’s interests, and the nation’s needs for food, without either having to resort to importations.
“It is for us to put our minds to it, and it is for us to put the policies in place to support the efforts of the farmers,” he asserted.
He encouraged the farmers to work closely with their RADA officers, with a view to increasing their levels of production and productivity.
Other matters, which Dr. Tufton discussed with the over 100 farmers who attended, include: disaster relief; the cost of farming inputs; the condition of farm roads; marketing opportunities; technical assistance from RADA; and the production of value added farm produce.