The Government has budgeted over $172 million for the revitalising of the banana industry in the 2015/16 fiscal year. Some 381 hectares of the fruit will be planted and support services provided to farmers by the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), under the Jamaica Accompanying Measures (JBAMS) project. The project, which commenced in September 2013, and is slated to run...

The livestock industry is slated to benefit from an allocation of some $56 million for the upgrading of two abattoirs, facilitate training in animal husbandry, and to increase the availability of breeding stock. The allocation, under the Diversification of the Caribbean Livestock through the Production of Small Ruminants project, has been made in the 2015/16 Estimates of Expenditure, now before...

The Sugar Transformation Project has received an allocation of $2.4 billion in the 2015/16 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. Of the sum, some $850 million has been allocated for Cane Expansion Activities, including the planting/replanting of a minimum of 1,300 hectares of sugar cane, and the rehabilitation of 80 kilometres of cane roads. There will also...

The Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) will continue the implementation of the European Development Fund (EDF) Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) Capacity Building Project, this year, with a $37.9 million allocation in the 2015/16 Estimates of Expenditure, now before Parliament. The project aims to facilitate increased production and more diversified export of agricultural and agro-processed products to the European Union (EU)...

The Sugar Transformation Project has received an allocation of $2.4 billion in the 2015/16 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. Of the sum, some $850 million has been allocated for Cane Expansion Activities, including the planting/replanting of a minimum of 1,300 hectares of sugar cane, and the rehabilitation of 80 kilometres of cane roads. There will also...

President of the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS), Senator Norman Grant, is hailing the resilience of Trelawny’s farmers, noting that despite drought they produced over 95,000 metric tonnes of produce last year, contributing 15.5 per cent of the country’s domestic crop production. He said the parish is ranked third in domestic production behind Manchester and St. Elizabeth. “Let me celebrate the...

Cabinet has approved the lease of 250 acres of land in Wallen, St. Catherine, to Red Stripe for the planting of cassava in support of the company’s plans to produce cassava as a substitute for imported barley.  This is in addition to the 36-acre property which was leased to Red Stripe in Bernard Lodge, St. Catherine, to plant cassava as...