The Government will be providing close to $1billion to establish cold storage facilities to benefit farmers across the island this year. The investment is among initiatives to boost agricultural production, which were announced by Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, during his 2025 New Year’s Day message on January 1. He informed that Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and...

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining is moving to commence building out Jamaica’s cold storage infrastructure in 2025. Portfolio Minister, Hon. Floyd Green, made the disclosure during a recent press briefing at the Ministry’s Hope Gardens offices in Kingston. Cold storage facilities extend the quality, nutritional value and shelf life of agricultural produce. Mr. Green informed that a contract...

Coconut farmers in St. Mary and St. Thomas have received supplies from the Coconut Industry Board (CIB) to assist in their ongoing recovery from losses sustained during Hurricane Beryl’s passage just south of Jamaica on July 3. The provisions were handed over to farmers in two farm groups in St. Mary and their counterparts in St. Thomas on December 19...

Publisher and Editor, The Agriculturalist and Tropical Farmers' Almanac, Patrick Maitland (second left), engages in discussion with (from left), Operations Manager, Ace Supercentre, Devon Facey; Managing Director, Stanmark Processors Company Limited, Canute Sadler; and Principal Director of Technical Services, Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), Winston Simpson, at the Agriculturist Impact Awards ceremony held at the Medallion Hall Hotel in Kingston...

Training for the Agricultural Wardens Programme is expected to begin in January 2025. This was disclosed by Head of the Praedial Larceny Prevention Coordination Unit, Superintendent Oral Pascoe, during a press conference held at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hope Gardens, in Kingston, on December 18. Superintendent Pascoe said so far, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) has received...

Progress has been made in tackling praedial larceny, with notable increases in arrests and seizures. Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green, said that up to November this year, 86 persons had been arrested for praedial larceny, surpassing the 78 arrests recorded for all of 2023. “December [figures] haven’t come in as yet, and we are seeing an...

More than 2,819 hectares of crops that were damaged by Hurricane Beryl and Tropical Storm Rafael have been restored. Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green, said approximately $182 million was spent procuring 27,579 units of assorted seeds that were distributed to farmers across Manchester, Clarendon, St. Elizabeth, Westmoreland, Trelawny, St. Catherine and St. Ann. He advised that...