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KINGSTON – Jamaica recorded a one per cent decrease in its food import bill for 2010, which stood at US$661 million, Agriculture and Fisheries Minister, Hon. Dr. Christopher Tufton, has said. This figure, he said, was seven per cent lower than 2008, and is an indication that the country is moving in the right direction in terms “depending more on...

The Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries (MoA&F)is to host another series of Farmers’ Market in six (6) parishes across the country this Friday, March 4, 2011 at the following locations: MoA&F football field - St. Andrew; Trinity AIBGA - St. Mary; RADA Mandeville office – Manchester; RADA Parish office - St. James; Portmore HEART Academy - St. Catherine; and Folly...

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Dr. Christopher Tufton, has appealed for increased investments in the agricultural sector, citing significant opportunities from growing local produce. Speaking at Tuesday’s (March 1) launch of the “Eat Jamaican’ Campaign at the Coronation Market, downtown Kingston, Dr, Tufton said that, based on the sector’s performance, it was an opportune time for investors to get...

The Portland parish office of the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) staged its third annual open day on Wednesday (February 23) at the Folly Oval in Port Antonio. The event, which was held to sensitise farmers and the general public about the work of the agency and its support partners, featured displays of crops and value-added produce, farming goods and...

Minister of Education, Hon. Andrew Holness, has disclosed that the Government is seeking to divest Nutrition Products Limited (NPL), as it seeks to make the state-owned company more efficient in meeting the nutrition needs of students. “It is not the intention of the Ministry to continue much longer with Nutrition Products Limited…it was always the intention that that operation be...

Approximately 561 former sugar workers in Trelawny were presented with grant funding certificates, under the Government of Jamaica/European Union (EU) displaced sugar workers Economic Mitigation Programme on Wednesday February 23. The list included 135 workers recently laid off by existing private sector managers of the production facilities within the parish. The assistance programme is being funded by the EU, through...

The Ministry of Agriculture, through the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), has provided assistance to more than 100 farmers in St. Elizabeth, who had their crops destroyed by Tropical Storm Nicole in September last year. Speaking at a handing over ceremony in New Market, on February 22, Chief Executive Officer of RADA, Al Powell, explained that the Minister of Agriculture...

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Dr. Christopher Tufton, says that although the state-owned sugar estates did not make a profit for the 2008/09 crop season the Government had not made any additional expenditure, and therefore had not suffered a loss. "The Government has not spent any additional sums, coming from a point where they spent $5 billion to subsidise...

The Government is looking to make Hounslow in St. Elizabeth an agro-industrial zone, boasting up-to-date post harvest plants, as part of the thrust to modernise and transform Jamaican agriculture. Hounslow is perhaps the most fertile area in Jamaica and it has one of the largest irrigation infrastructure in the country of well over 3,000 acres of land.  Already, a packaging...

As the Government seeks to boost meat safety initiatives, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries is to model a processing structure for local consumers. Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Dr. Christopher Tufton, says that certified slaughter facilities will be established to cater to the formal meat trade. Dr. Tufton was addressing the official launch of World Veterinary Year, as...

The Coffee Industry Board  (CIB) through the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries successfully secured an emergency loan facility of $310.5 million Jamaican Dollars from the EX-IM Bank and the Development Bank of Jamaica to purchase coffee in the High and Blue Mountains on behalf of the coffee dealers. This loan was secured in a bid to preserve the coffee industry...

All food processing establishments must immediately register with the Bureau of Standards Jamaica (BSJ) and failure to do so will result in the closure of the unregistered operations. The enforcement of this measure is in keeping with the legal requirement of the BSJ to ensure that goods produced meet the required standards with respect to health, safety and quality.   However,...