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Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) St. James Agricultural Parish Manager, Sadie Dixon Bennett, inspects sweet peppers being grown on its demonstration plot at Catherine Hall in Montego Bay.

RADA Provides Quality Seedlings for St. James Farmers

The St. James Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) is providing quality vegetable planting materials for farmers in the parish, through its plant nursery, which is located in Catherine Hall, Montego Bay. RADA St. James Agricultural Manager, Sadie Dixon Bennett, tells...

Agriculture Minister Welcomes New Division of CB Group

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. J.C. Hutchinson, addresses the Growers Choice Avery’s Organic Company product launch held at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston today (July 13).

Jamaica Must Develop Organic Agriculture Industry – J.C. Hutchinson

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. J.C. Hutchinson (left), and Managing Director, Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), Omar Sweeney, examine bottles of honey manufactured by the Hanover Bee Farmers’ Cooperative Society. They were on a recent tour of a new $27-million state-of-the-art honey-extraction and bottling facility at the old Rural Agricultural and Development Authority (RADA) Parish Office Complex in Lucea, Hanover. The facility, which will be operated by the cooperative society, will benefit more than 200 bee farmers in Hanover, St. James, Trelawny and Westmoreland.

Sweet Taste for Bee Farmers in Western Jamaica

Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Peter Thompson (left), and President of the University of Technology (UTech), Professor Stephen Vasciannie, sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to deliver a postgraduate programme in rural development, at the institution’s Old Hope Road offices in St. Andrew on July 11.

UTech and RADA Sign MOU to Deliver Master’s Programme in Rural Development

9 years ago AgricultureFinance & Public Service

MSME Operators Urged To Embrace Technology

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw, is urging operators to Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSME) to take advantage of available technology to boost their business. “I don’t believe, certainly in our case in Jamaica that we are embracing technology enough. I don’t believe that our small and medium enterprises take enough advantage of information technology…It...

9 years ago Agriculture

Private Sector Invests $9 Billion in Agricultural Sector

Private investment totalling more than $9 billion has been pumped into the agricultural sector, says Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Karl Samuda. In addition to that sum, the Minister notes that the Government, with support from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), is spending $320 million to build several agro-processing facilities across the island through the Jamaica Social...

Local Raw Material Business Development Manager for Red Stripe, Dr. Cavell Francis-Rhiney (right), shakes hands with Director of the Office of Environment and Health, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Jamaica, Sara Buchanan (left). This was shortly before the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Red Stripe and the USAID-funded Jamaica Rural Economy and Ecosystems Adapting to Climate Change II (Ja REEACH II) Project for the provision of technical support to boost commercial cassava production under Red Stripe’s Project Grow initiative. The signing ceremony was held on Friday, July 7 at the Spanish Court Hotel in New Kingston. Looking on are board member of Ja REEACH, Mortimer Neufville (2nd left); and Chairman of the Desnoes and Geddes Foundation, operating company for Red Stripe, Noel DaCosta.

9 years ago AgricultureCommerce

Red Stripe to Engage More Farmers in Cassava Cultivation

Red Stripe will be engaging an additional 200 farmers to cultivate cassava under its Project Grow initiative. They will add to the 103 farmers who have already been contracted by the company to grow the crop as a source of raw material to substitute for the imported high-maltose corn syrup used in the production of its world-famous Red Stripe Beer....

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. J.C. Hutchinson. (FILE)

9 years ago Agriculture

Agro-Economic Zone for Hanover

The Government is looking at establishing an agro-economic zone in Hanover to assist farmers with marketing their produce. Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. J.C. Hutchinson, notes that the zone will enable farmers in Hanover, Westmoreland and St. James to “have a ready market for their produce”. Mr. Hutchinson was speaking at a...

9 years ago AgricultureCommerceIndustry

New $30.3m Irrigation System Commissioned in New Forrest-duff House

A total of 400 farmers who cultivate in the New Forest-Duff House Agro Park in Manchester now have improved irrigation access following the commissioning of a new $30.3 million industrial pump that will serve the area, on June 29. The facility was jointly funded by the World Bank, through its Rural Economic Development Initiative (REDI) being implemented by the Jamaica Social...

9 years ago AgricultureCommerceIndustry

New $30.3m Irrigation System Commissioned in New Forest-Duff House

Acting Principal Director, Technical Services, at Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), Marina Young.

9 years ago Agriculture

Field School Helping to Boost Farm Yields

The European Union (EU)-funded Farmer Field School (FFS) programme is helping to boost the yield of the country’s farmers, by scaling up best practices in agricultural production. Dubbed the “school without walls,” the initiative, being implemented by the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), engages farmers in areas such as crop management and integrated pest control, among others. It is part...