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Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Roger Clarke, has asked the Bureau of Standards Jamaica to work with the relevant agencies to formulate a comprehensive set of standards for key food items. This, Mr. Clarke says, arises from concerns about the quality of foods Jamaicans are consuming. "The level of sodium in some of our imported foods is frightening. The...

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Roger Clarke, on Wednesday, May 8, outlined a number of initiatives which have been advanced by the government to provide more efficient and effective service to the agricultural sector. Mr. Clarke, who was making his contribution to the 2013/14 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives, informed that significant work was undertaken to rationalize...

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Roger Clarke, has welcomed the $350 million investment by the Jamaica Broilers Group into its new Best Dressed Further Processing Facility at Spring Village, St. Catherine. The Minister, who toured the facility Wednesday, May 8, accompanied by Industry, Investment and Commerce Minister, Hon. Anthony Hylton and Members of Parliament, Dr. Andrew Wheatley and Everard...

After 12 years at the helm of the Jamaica 4-H Clubs, Lenworth Fulton will assume the role of Chief Executive Officer of the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) as of May 1. Agriculture and Fisheries Minister, Hon. Roger Clarke, officially welcomed Mr. Fulton to his new post, during a press briefing on April 24 at his Hope Gardens offices in...

The Board of the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) is looking to implement a number of measures, to improve the agency’s capacity to contribute to the revitalisation of the local agricultural sector. This was disclosed by Agriculture and Fisheries Minister, Hon. Roger Clarke, during a press briefing on Wednesday, April 24, at his Hope Gardens offices in St. Andrew. Mr....

Opposition Spokesperson on Finance, Audley Shaw, has given his party’s full support of the Government’s plan to establish agro parks, which are aimed at moving the country towards food security. “We fully support this concept. We believe in a value-added approach to agriculture, where farmers’ output can become agro processors’ input with branded products such as sauces and spices,” Mr....

Veteran St. James farmer, Carlton Smith, strongly believes that the agricultural industry holds the solution to Jamaica’s economic challenges. He supports the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries ‘Eat What You Grow, Grow What You Eat’ campaign, and suggested that more idle land should be put into production so that the country can feed itself and reduce the spending on imported...

The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries is looking to identify more arable lands on which to cultivate sorghum, a crop currently being tested as a substitute grain for animal feed. This was disclosed by portfolio Minister, Hon. Roger Clarke, while speaking to journalists today (April 19), following the harvesting of a pilot sorghum crop in Hill Run, St. Catherine. The...

The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries will be pursuing initiatives aimed at enhancing Jamaica’s food security and reducing the country's annual food import bill of US$1 billion. “We have decided we are going to put a serious dent in that,” emphasised portfolio Minister, Hon. Roger Clarke, as he spoke at the launch of the Jamaica 4-H Club’s National Achievement Expo...

The Government’s efforts to Enhance the Resilience of the Agricultural Sector and Coastal Areas have been boosted with the injection of $114.3 million. This is contained in the 2013/14 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of  Representatives. The project, which began in October 2012, aims to increase sectoral resilience and adaptive capacity to cope with the impacts of climate...

The Government will be expending $25.4 million this fiscal year, to strengthen the capacity of testing laboratories involved in the export of agricultural and agro-processed products to the European Union (EU) markets. The allocation, provided under the European Development Fund Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) Capacity Building Project, is contained in the 2013/2014 Estimates of Expenditure, which is now before the...

The Coffee Competitiveness Enterprise Programme is to receive $10.4 million this fiscal year, to help small farmers improve productivity, and producers to acquire appropriate tools and technologies. The project, as outlined in the 2013/14 Estimates of Expenditure, and being implemented by the Coffee Industry Board, seeks to provide capacity building of co-operatives in the central and northern regions of the...