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A $60 million contract has been signed and ground broken for infrastructure works at Steel Field Sugar Estate Barracks relocation sites in Spicy Hill, Trelawny. This is to facilitate the resettlement of some 97 persons to 39 housing solutions in ultra-modern communities, under the Sugar Area Development Programme, supported by the European Union (EU). The contract was signed on November...

The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries has allotted over $60 million towards the funding of several programmes designed to create employment for individuals within the agricultural sector. The programmes, which target approximately 1,000 persons, form part of the Ministry’s contribution to the Jamaica Emergency Employment Programme (JEEP). Speaking in an interview with JIS News, Principal Director, Field Services and Operations,...

The much-loved sorrel drink has long been a favourite of Jamaicans during the Christmas period. As appetites grow for the taste of this delicious indigenous Jamaican product, so has the need for increased production of the sorrel plant, the sepals of which are used to make the drink. The Government has been working to improve efficiency in harvesting the crop,...

Agriculture and Fisheries Minister, Hon. Roger Clarke, said that payouts from the Catastrophe Fund for the banana industry, amounting to some $7 million, are scheduled to be made this week. Speaking on November 13 at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the provision of a $100 million loan facility for the resuscitation of the banana industry, at...

Agriculture and Fisheries Minister, Hon. Roger Clarke, is confident that the Ministry’s implementation of a three-pronged programme of assistance, valued at over $200 million, will assist the banana industry to recover from the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy last month. Speaking at the signing of a $100 million Banana Resuscitation Loan Programme Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), at the Ministry’s Hope...

Come tomorrow (Nov.14), the People’s Cooperative (PC) Bank is slated to begin processing loan applications for the disbursement of $100 million to banana farmers ,who suffered heavy losses during the passage of Hurricane Sandy three weeks ago. Agriculture and Fisheries Minister, Hon. Roger Clarke, said that the exercise will commence at the Trinity boxing plant in St Mary, one of...

Hundreds of farmers from Lititz and surrounding communities in South East St. Elizabeth are to benefit from a small-scale irrigation system set up by the Government, through the National Irrigation Commission Limited (NIC), at a cost of $6.5 million. The system, deemed necessary due to the historical pattern of low rainfall in the area, is supported by rainwater harvesting facilities....

  Jamaica’s fisheries sector is set to benefit from some US$400,000 ($36 million) in grant funding and technical support under the United Kingdom-based Department for International Development (DFID)-funded Caribbean Fish Sanctuary Partnership Initiative (C-FISH). The initiative is a four year £2. 1 million ($302 million) project, which will support the operations of fish sanctuaries in Jamaica, Grenada, St. Lucia, Dominica,...

Hundreds of farmers from Lititz and surrounding communities in South St. Elizabeth are to benefit from a small-scale irrigation system set up by the Government, through the National Irrigation Commission Limited (NIC), at a cost of  $6.5 million. The system, deemed necessary due to the historical pattern of low rainfall in the area, is supported by rainwater harvesting facilities. There are...

Several Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) extension officers are currently engaged in a two-day sorrel harvesting training programme, aimed at equipping them with knowledge on production techniques to be transferred to farmers. Experts from the University of Chapingo in Mexico, are providing training to 20 officers from all parishes on the correct use of the sorrel harvesting machine, designed and...

The Government will be providing more than $100 million in material and services to assist with the restoration of farming in the worse-affected parishes. Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller, made the announcement on Tuesday (Nov. 6) in the House of Representatives, where she gave an update on the Government’s assistance to the various sectors in the aftermath...

To assist with the resuscitation of the banana industry, the Government, through the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, has negotiated a $100 million loan package from the People’s Cooperative (PC) Banks, which will be available to farmers at an interest rate of five per cent. Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller, during a statement in the House of...