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 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...

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...

Travellers to Jamaica are being urged to declare all agricultural products in order to avoid the introduction of foreign pests and diseases that could threaten the agriculture sector and the environment. Chief Plant Quarantine Produce Inspector, Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Sanniel Wilson, said that persons are required to declare seeds, meats, plants and animal products and by-products...

Strawberries anyone? The bright red, delicious and nutritious fruit, which is largely imported into the island, is being successfully planted by farmers in East Rural St. Andrew. The berries grown locally are said to be sweeter than the imported produce, and are in high demand by consumers. Ten farmers are engaged in cultivation of the crop under an AgriHope programme...

The Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries (MICAF) has committed $50 million to provide crop care and productivity support for this year’s implementation of the National Irish Potato Programme, which will cost $1.6 billion. This was disclosed by Minister without Portfolio in MICAF, Hon. J.C. Hutchinson, who said the inputs will include pesticides and fertilizers, among other key provisions,...

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Donovan Stanberry, says technical, vocational, education and training (TVET) will play a critical role in the economic advancement of the country. He noted that with expanded TVET activities “particularly in agriculture”, the economy will become more developed as currently “we are hard pressed to find the range of skills...