Several tertiary and high-school students from St. James and Hanover participated in the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI) Farm-to-Table Experience on October 27. The initiative, which is in its second year, aims to inform students about the agricultural sector’s importance to Jamaica and the benefits that can be derived from it. Approximately 30 students from the Jamaica...

State Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Franklin Witter, is urging stakeholders in the mining sector to begin now to plan for a future beyond bauxite. “We know that bauxite is a diminishing asset, with mining in Jamaica having just another 30 to 40 years to go. We must now look at life after bauxite and we must now...

Local farmers are being implored to capitalise on training available to them through the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA). Making the call, Land Management Officer at RADA, Kingston and St. Andrew, Robert Tulloch, said that, often, farmers do not take advantage of the training opportunities that exist. He noted, for example, that “I have [been to] Westmoreland and have spent...

The Government continues to recraft Jamaica’s agricultural sector to deal with the realities of climate change, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green, has said. He noted that the Ministry is focused on several strategic pillars to improve the sector, including food security, agribusiness development and climate-smart technologies. “We must farm differently. If the climate [has] changed, we...

Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green, says Jamaican farmers should tap into the growing global demand for spice crops, by embracing the cultivation of ginger. Minister Green, who was speaking to JIS News following a tour of the Reynolds Pier in Ocho Rios on October 25, said the country is at a stage where spices, notably ginger,...

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining has called for a collective effort to combat praedial larceny, which has plagued the nation for years. State Minister, Hon. Franklin Witter, made the appeal during a Public Health Inspectors Sensitisation Session at Hibiscus Lodge in Ocho Rios, St. Ann, on October 24. He argued that it will take State agencies, the private...

One hundred students from six schools in St. Elizabeth Northwest benefited from a chicken-rearing pilot project, which was initiated during the last academic year. Providing details in the House of Representatives on Tuesday (October 24), Member of Parliament, Hon. J.C. Hutchinson, said that the students, who were recommended by teachers, received baby chicks and feed. “They were required to rear...

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining is scaling up efforts to ensure adequate food supplies for Jamaicans this Christmas. Speaking during a recent World Food Day event, Portfolio Minister, Hon. Floyd Green, assured that support to local farmers is being channelled through the production incentive programme and the Ministry’s drought mitigation programme. “A lot of the vegetable crops are...

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining will roll out a new Backyard Gardening Programme on November 1. In making the announcement at the World Food Day National Ceremony and Exposition at Newell High School in St. Elizabeth on Thursday (October 19), Portfolio Minister, Hon. Floyd Green, said the new programme aims to bolster food security and encourage sustainable farming...