Agriculture Taskforce for St. Catherine North Eastern

Member of Parliament for St. Catherine North Eastern, Kerensia Morrison, says a constituency taskforce on agriculture will be established.

Speaking in the State of the Constituency debate in the House of Representatives recently, she said that the taskforce will be highly responsive to the concerns of the farmers and provide training in best practices.

“I was very encouraged last week when the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries advised me that there were constituencies which, based on their profile for agriculture, will be given specific and targeted focus. I am looking forward to these programmes that will educate farmers on greenhouse [production] and the use of technology,” she said.

The Member of Parliament said that agriculture is the economic backbone of North Eastern St. Catherine.

“I thank the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) for their support to our farmers by ensuring that they get registered and also by providing our farmers with technical support,” she said.

The Member of Parliament told the House that farmers in the constituency have benefited from the recent launch of an onion and potato programme by the Ministry.

The Government is investing $200 million in the national Irish potato and onion programme, to increase the hectares under production and to improve yields of these crops.

The sum of $150 million has been allocated for the Irish potato programme, while $50 million will be invested in onion production.

The initiative has created approximately 40,000 employment opportunities within the sector.

The Irish potato programme, which commenced in 2008, is aimed at satisfying 100 per cent of the estimated demand of 17,000 tonnes annually.

For the 2021 to 2022 period, 70 per cent of national demand was achieved, eliminating the need for importation of the food staple since November 2021.