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The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries is injecting US$2.5 million into initiatives to improve production of small ruminants. The money is being provided through the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) project, and will go towards efforts to improve breeding, provide training, develop the value chain, and expansion of herd through rapid multiplication techniques. Portfolio Minister, Hon. Roger Clarke, in his...

Cabinet has approved the rationalization of the regulatory aspects of the Coffee Industry Board, the Cocoa Industry Board and the Export Division, to be consolidated into one administrative structure. Agriculture Minister, Hon. Roger Clarke, who made the revelation during his recent budget presentation, said the Ministry is now in the process of recruiting a consultant, “with significant expertise and experience...

The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries will be spending some $39 million on marketing, training and rehabilitation initiatives in the fisheries sector this year. Through resources from the Fisheries Management and Development Fund, some $22 million will be allocated to undertake a marketing and promotion drive, training and capacity building of fish-farmer groups. Additionally, $17 million will go towards rehabilitating...

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Roger Clarke, said the Ministry will be working with farmers to get more local produce into the National School Feeding Programme to reduce cost and improve the nutrition of students. “Our farmers are going to be asked to work in clusters to provide some of the nutrition for our school children. We (are) going...

The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries will be intensifying its farmer registration programme this year, as it moves to arrest the scourge of farm theft. Portfolio Minister, Hon. Roger Clarke, in his recent budget presentation, informed that some $6 million will be used under the Jamaica Emergency Employment Programme (JEEP) to employ some 100 people to undertake farmer registration and...

Animal feed and raw food and vegetables are being retained on the list of items being exempted from General Consumption Tax (GCT), Finance and Planning Minister, Dr. the Hon. Peter Phillips, has announced. At the same time, the Minister disclosed that, following consultations and discussions with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, it is proposed that, effective July 1, an...

The Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) and the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) have partnered to provide shrimp vendors in Middle Quarters, St. Elizabeth with customer service training and support to improve their operations. Some 40 vendors, who were trained under the TPDCo flagship programme ‘Team Jamaica’, were presented with certificates on Thursday (May 31), at a ceremony held at...

Some $50 million is being made available to banana farmers under a resuscitation programme being undertaken by the Government, as it looks to build a sustainable domestic banana industry and cut down on imports of banana chips. Making the announcement during the 2012/13 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives on May 30, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Roger...

Work on a National Food and Nutritional Security Policy is well advanced and is expected to be completed this financial year. This was disclosed by Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Roger Clarke, during his contribution to the 2012/13 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives on May 30. He informed that the Policy is being done in collaboration with...

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Roger Clarke, on Wednesday May 30 disclosed that COMPLANT International Sugar Industry Company Limited received tax incentives as part of an agreement to purchase government-owned sugar factories. Mr. Clarke, who was speaking during his contribution to the 2012/13 budget debate in the House of Representatives,cited a letter dated July 29, 2010, written by then...

The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries is in the process of restructuring its marketing system to better enable farmers to find suitable outlets for their produce. “We are determined, this year, to reorganise the marketing structure. People must know when and (what farmers ) are going to plant,” portfolio Minister, Hon. Roger Clarke stated on Friday (May 25), as he...

A project, which sets out to enhance the climate change resilience of the agricultural sector and coastal areas, has received an allocation of $8.4 million in the 2012/13 Estimates of Expenditure now before the House of Representatives. Being financed by the Adaptation Fund, the initiative seeks to establish a micro-dam; implement rainwater harvesting and small scale gravity irrigation and productivity...