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Senate Passes Bill to Modernise Agricultural Sector

A Bill seeking to modernise the agricultural sector to meet the nation’s growing demands of food security and productivity was passed in the Senate on October 6. The Agricultural Loan Societies and Approved Organisations Act also facilitates the dissolution of...

Projects Manager with the Environmental Health Foundation (EHF), Faradaine Forbes-Edwards, addresses residents of upper Clarendon, at the Peckham Community Centre, in the parish.

Upper Clarendon to Benefit from Climate Change Adaptation Programme

Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Karl Samuda (second right), looks on as Managing Director, Newport Fersan Jamaica Limited, Dennis Valdez (right), presents a bag of ‘coffeeliser’ to coffee farmers from the Brandon Hill Division, Odia Bruce (left) and Will Frazer, during a press conference on the coffee industry, at the Ministry’s New Kingston offices on October 3.

$80-Million Initiative to Help Registered Coffee Farmers

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, the Hon. J.C. Hutchinson (2nd left), pays a vendor for a quantity of yam at the Jamaica 4-H Clubs’ inaugural farmers’ market held on Friday (September 29) on the grounds of the organisation located along Old Hope Road, St. Andrew. At 3rd left is Executive Director, Jamaica 4-H Clubs, Ronald Blake.

Minister Hutchinson Hails 4-H Farmers’ Market Initiative

Jamaica and China Sign Aquatic Exports MoU

8 years ago Agriculture

Farmers Happy For Hounslow Animal Research Centre

Farmers across western Jamaica, particularly in St. Elizabeth, are optimistic that the US$5-million Hounslow Animal Research facility in the parish will go a far way in improving both the quality and quantity of the nation’s small-ruminant stock. The facility, which was officially opened in 2016, offers artificial insemination and embryo transfer services to farmers who are involved in goat and...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw, greets farmers on arrival at the Schwallenburgh Greenhouse Cluster and Water Harvesting Project in Rio Hoe, St. Ann, on September 15.

8 years ago Agriculture

Female Farmers Holding Their Own

Female farmers at the Schwallenburgh Greenhouse Cluster and Water Harvesting Project in Rio Hoe, St. Ann, say things are changing, while acknowledging that farming has long been a male-dominated profession. Speaking to JIS News, the female farmers note that of the 20 farmers that are involved in the World Bank-sponsored greenhouse project, nearly 50 per cent are women who have...

Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Karl Samuda (centre), addresses a press briefing at his New Kingston office on September 20, to provide an update on developments in the sugar industry. Others (from left) are Director General in the Ministry, Vivian Brown; and Chief Executive Officer of the Sugar Company of Jamaica Holdings (SCJH), John Gayle.

9 years ago Agriculture

Monymusk Sugar Factory to Continue for 2017/18 Season

The Government has secured an agreement with operators of the Clarendon-based Monymusk Sugar Factory, Pan Caribbean, to keep it open for the 2017/2018 crop season. Making the announcement at a press briefing at the Ministry in New Kingston on September 20, Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Karl Samuda, said the company will operate the factory during the...

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. J.C. Hutchinson (left), in discussion with Carlisa Enterprises Project Manager, Wayne D. Chin (right) about the function of a Craftop power spray machine that is used on farms. Occasion was a function dubbed, ‘Salute to Farmers’, organised by St. Jago Farm and Hardware Supplies (SJFHS), and held in Douglas Castle, St. Ann, on September 19. One of the power spray machines was donated to farmers in the area, along with various types of agricultural items by SJFHS. Others sharing in the occasion are (from left): Member of Parliament for South West St. Ann, Zavia Maine, and Trainee Manager at Carlisa Enterprises, Daniel Gordon.

9 years ago Agriculture

Government to Launch Revolving Loan Scheme for Selected Crops

In another two weeks, the Government will be launching a revolving loan scheme for farmers across the island for selected crops. Under the arrangement, registered farmers with the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), will access the support through their local farm organisations, which will oversee the repayment of the loans. Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture...

Chief Technical Director in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Dermon Spence, addresses a recent Think Tank at the Jamaica Information Service (JIS) headquarters on Half-Way Tree Road, Kingston.

9 years ago Agriculture

Plant Quarantine Division Helping to Boost Trade

The Plant Quarantine Division (PQD) in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce Agriculture and Fisheries is playing a key role in helping to boost trade in agricultural produce and ensuring that citizens have access to safe, quality foods. Chief Technical Director in the Ministry, Dermon Spence, said the expansion of trade in part of Government’s strategic objectives for the sector. “Our...

9 years ago AgricultureClimate ChangeEconomic Growth & Infrastructure DevelopmentVision 2030

Farmers Urged to Embrace Climate Smart Technology

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Hon. Daryl Vaz, is urging local farmers to be more open to using new technology to increase productivity, while protecting the environment. He cited, for example, the benefits of aquaponics, a system of aquaculture in which the waste produced by farmed fish or other aquatic creatures supplies the...

Executive Director of the Jamaica Bauxite Institute (JBI), Parris Lyew-Ayee, addresses a signing ceremony for a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Timeless Herbal Care for the growing of medicinal plants on mined-out bauxite lands. The signing was held at the Ministry of Transport and Mining’s Maxfield Avenue offices in Kingston on (September 6).

9 years ago AgricultureMining

160 Greenhouses Set Up on Reclaimed Bauxite Lands

Some 160 greenhouses have been established on mined-out bauxite lands in St. Ann, Manchester, Clarendon, and St. Elizabeth at a cost of approximately $240 million. Executive Director of the Jamaica Bauxite Institute (JBI), Parris Lyew-Ayee, said the greenhouses, which are under vegetable cultivation, are providing earnings of up to $3 million annually for the farmers. He informed that marketing arrangements...