The Food Storage and Prevention of Infestation Division (FSPID), in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries (MICAF) has confiscated 70 metric tonnes (1575 bags) of White Cinderella rice, valued at approximately $4.6 million, which was imported from Guyana by a local distributor. Upon inspection the rice had signs of mould growth, clumping, discolouration and wetting. As a result,...

Farmers in several communities across the island will now have easier access to major markets following the improvement of roads under the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries’ National Farm Road Rehabilitation Programme. The roads, which will officially open shortly, include White Hall to Spring Road and Barking Lodge to Chapel Hill in St. Thomas; Long Coffee, and Halifax to Bethany...

Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Audley Shaw, says the process to use former sugar lands for the cultivation of other viable crops has begun. “Over the next several months, thousands of acres of land are going to be allocated and leased to private-sector personnel, hundreds of whom have sent applications to me as Minister,” he said, while...

Inspection bodies in the private and public sectors are being encouraged by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Jamaica National Agency for Accreditation (JANAAC), Sharonmae Shirley, to access the free pre-assessment that is being offered by the organisation until March 31. According to Mrs. Shirley, the agency is offering free pre-assessments for the second consecutive year, as it recognises the...

Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Jamaica National Agency for Accreditation (JANAAC), Sharonmae Shirley, says the organisation is targeting the accreditation of 50 inspection bodies for 2019. Speaking with JIS News, Mrs. Shirley said they are aiming to get the standards of local and regional inspection bodies aligned with international standards. “Inspection body accreditation means allowing a third party (JANAAC) to come...

Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Audley Shaw, says farmers, particularly those in St. Elizabeth and Manchester, have been resilient in their efforts to sustain Jamaica’s food security, despite challenges, including drought. He was speaking at the official launch of the Essex Valley Agriculture Project in St. Elizabeth, on January 16, at the Lititz Primary School, in the...

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, has heightened the call for more Jamaicans “from all walks of life” to venture into agriculture, emphasising that the sector is an important contributor to the growth of the Jamaican economy. “We should never limit agriculture, because the moment that we limit agriculture to being merely a manual and domestic endeavour, then we...