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There was a 14.4 per cent increase in domestic crop production for the October to December 2008 quarter, as compared to the similar quarter of 2007. Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Christopher Tufton, presenting fourth quarter production figures at a press briefing held yesterday (Jan. 19) at his Hope Gardens office in Kingston, said that the sector overall, based on preliminary...

More than 700 banana and plantain farmers, whose crops were damaged or destroyed during the passage of Hurricane Dean in August 2007, have been benefiting from assistance under the European Union Banana Support Programme's (EUBSP) Hurricane Dean Resuscitation/Rehabilitation Training Programme, since its inception last November. More than 2,500 hectares of domestic banana and plantain trees, amounting to approximately 95 per...

Plans are being made for the expansion of the Ministry of Agriculture's Land Administration and Management Programme (LAMP) outside of St. Catherine, where it currently operates.This is in an effort to assist the holders of unregistered lands in other parishes to formalize ownership of their properties. Activities are being developed in this regard, and when finalized, should see more landowners...

Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Christopher Tufton, has said that agriculture must be transformed into a modern and competitive sector in order for it to survive and grow. Dr. Tufton was speaking on November 7 at the agriculture task force workshop at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston, to discuss the draft vision for the sector as part of Jamaica's plan...

The Ministry of Agriculture and Lands will be spending approximately $2.4 million over the next six months to provide training in apiculture for 22 young men and women, under phase three of its Beekeeping Apprenticeship Programme. Chief Apiculture Officer in the Ministry, Reginald Peddy in an interview with JIS News recently, explained that the programme, which is expected to get...

Prime Minister, Portia Simpson-Miller on (June 28) officially commissioned into operation the Pedro Plains Irrigation System, which will benefit scores of farmers in South St. Elizabeth. In delivering the keynote address, Mrs. Simpson-Miller noted that the irrigation system will address the needs of farmers in Pedro Plains, Little Park and Beacon. "Today is your day. for everyone wishing to put...

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller has said that the growth and development of the country's agricultural sector was critical in stemming rural under-development. "Many of the social ills now experienced in the urban area, stem from the neglect of the rural areas. Continued rural under-development leads to the rural-urban drift. This deprives the rural areas of the strength and vitality...

Land and Agriculture Minister, Roger Clarke yesterday (May 3) unveiled several strategies to enhance rural development, among them the implementation of a $700 million rural diversification programme. The Minister, who was making his contribution to the 2006/07 Budget Debate in Gordon House, said that the initiative, which is being funded by the European Union, would benefit some 10,000 displaced farmers...

The Ministry of Agriculture and Land, through its Apiculture Unit, is on a drive to increase honey production by 50,000 gallons by 2008 to augment the 131,000 gallons produced in 2005. As a result, the Ministry has allocated some $35,000 for traps to control the small hive beetle, which is a pest affecting the bee and honey industry. Hugh Smith,...

Twenty-eight apprentice beekeepers recently graduated from a training programme in apiculture having benefited from a $2.9 million investment in the sector by the Ministry of Agriculture and Land. The Apiculture Unit of the Research and Development Division in the Ministry hosted the graduation ceremony for the apprentices, who were formerly unemployed young men and women and who participated in the...

Cabinet has approved the appointment of the Land Development and Utilization Commission, and the Advisory Board to the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA). Both bodies are associated with the Ministry of Land and Environment. Information Minister, Senator Burchell Whiteman made the disclosure today (Jan. 31) at the weekly post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House. The Senator informed journalists that...

A pilot project of tagging and providing a 'passport' for animals in the cattle industry, to prevent praedial larceny as well as diseases, has been progressing smoothly since its introduction in September 2005. Implemented under the Animal Identification System, plastic and metal tags have been affixed to the ear of each head of cattle, with numbers to indicate parish and...

As the campaign against praedial larceny gains momentum islandwide, members of the farming community in Portland are strengthening their co-operation with the Police to eliminate the problem in the parish. The problem of praedial larceny is particularly rampant in the communities of Mount Pleasant and Hope Bay, with the perpetrators depriving the farmers of their crops. Hilma Wedderburn, the Jamaica...

The historic Holland Bamboo Avenue in St. Elizabeth is being given a face-lift, by the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo), Ministry of Agriculture and the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA). Hurricane Ivan, which lashed the island in 2004, seriously damaged the bamboo trees, as did a number of illicit bush fires, resulting in a marked decline of the plants....