Agriculture Continues to Rebound with Support from Ministry

The agricultural sector continues to rebound with support from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, following the passage of Hurricane Melissa on October 28 last year.

Days after the passage of the hurricane, the Ministry’s Disaster Recovery Committee was activated and $450 million immediately redirected to recovery efforts.

Weeks later, another $3 billion was provided by the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service.

Senior Strategist, Consultant and Advisor to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Michael Pryce, said the main aims of the Committee included restoring production swiftly and easing the cost of re-entry for farmers and fishers who suffered damage.

“All these with the aim of protecting national food security by restoring price stability and food availability. Over the past five months, the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) has distributed in excess of 17,000 packs of seeds valuing about $90 million and supporting nearly 30,000 farmers. This has allowed them to establish 1,600 hectares of crops,” he said.

“We have repaired, to date, some 44 farm roads across the island and we have repaired irrigation systems. We have distributed nearly 100,000 chickens to farmers who have lost their broiler chicks,” he noted.

Mr. Pryce was speaking at a JIS ‘Think Tank’, held today (March 20), at the agency’s Television Department on South Odeon Avenue in Kingston.

Hurricane Melissa caused unprecedented damage across all sectors, with Agriculture and Fisheries among the hardest hit, particularly in western parishes.

Mr. Pryce, who is also the Co-chair of the Hurricane Melissa Recovery and Resilience Committee in the Ministry, said the Ministry’s estimates put losses to the sector in the region of $36 billion.

Despite the blow, some areas of agriculture have been recovering with noteworthy leaps where, by the end of March 2026, 12,996 tonnes of Irish potato are expected to be produced.

“We have done specific distribution for both our onion and Irish potato programmes and we are now seeing the results where production is doing well for both. Of major importance is that the Ministry offered a suite of its services free to farmers, including land preparation, so we used our equipment – where RADA had tractors across the island; they did nearly 2,000 hectares servicing 1,300 farmers with free land preparation,” Mr. Pryce said.

Meanwhile, support continues for other areas in the sector, including Irrigation Services, with 100 per cent of National Irrigation Commission (NIC) customers now fully connected and being served.

The Jamaica Dairy Development Board (JDDB) has received pharmaceuticals, feed, fencing, generators and 254 bags of dairy ration and supplementary feeds for animals.

Plans are also in place for the provision of 400 pregnant heifers to help bolster production.

The Ministry has also turned its attention to protecting bees, which are critical pollinators and are key to the island’s food security. The Apiculture sector has, so far, received more than 5,000 bags of bee sugar, valued at $39 million, to help feed bees which lost food sources from the hurricane.

Coffee and cocoa farmers have received seedlings, fertilisers and care packages as well as training, to improve disaster readiness.

Mr. Pryce noted that the Ministry is geared towards safeguarding food security and giving the support that farmers require as best as possible.

“We don’t have the resources to be all things to everybody but we have a presence out there to ensure that we can support as best as we can, and we try to be efficient and fair in the delivery of those interventions to our farmers and fishers,” he said.

“Generally, farmers have been receptive and grateful and we see the results. We see the production that’s coming back,” he said.