Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Audley Shaw, says the Jamaica Trade Information Portal is expected to go live in May. Mr. Shaw made the announcement at the Small Business Association of Jamaica (SBAJ) second regional Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (MSME) Caribbean Conference 2019 on April 17, at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston. He said...

A university lecturer is encouraging farmers across the island to adopt climate-smart practices in order to mitigate the impacts of natural disasters. Dean of Science and Technology at the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI), Professor Michael A. Taylor, said that with rising temperatures, unpredictability of rain, drought and other climatic phenomena, farmers will have to...

Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Audley Shaw, says the Government has identified four distinct markets for locally grown foods. These markets, he notes, are the hotel industry; the CARICOM region, where fresh and processed foods can be exported duty-free; the diaspora, and the national school-feeding programme, which will see children eating fresh foods, instead of imported and...

The Coconut Industry Board (CIB) will be undertaking measures in the new financial year aimed at expanding the industry. This entity is looking to acquire property at Water Valley in St. Mary or other location to establish a new seed garden, nursery and farm that will facilitate the construction of coconut water and oil factories. In addition, the organisation will...

A total of 540 farmers in the Jiuquan Iron and Steel Company (JISCO)/Alpart operating areas of St. Elizabeth have benefited from vouchers valued at $2.7 million to purchase farm inputs. The support was provided under the company’s Agricultural Stimulus Programme. The vouchers, valued at $5,000 each, are redeemable at various farm stores in the parish, and enable the farmers to...

More than 30 government officials from 14 countries are in Jamaica taking part in the three-day Wold Trade Organization (WTO) Regional Workshop on ‘Fisheries Subsidies for Caribbean Countries’. The workshop, which opened on Tuesday (April 9) at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in New Kingston, aims to update the participants on the current status and main issues in the global...

The National Standards Curriculum (NSC) has been exposing students in primary and secondary schools to agriculture, says National Technical and Vocational, Education and Training (TVET) Director in the Education, Youth and Information Ministry, Denworth Finnikin. Addressing the 2019 Jamaica 4-H Clubs National Achievement Expo at the Denbigh Showground in May Pen on April 5, Mr. Finnikin informed that among the...