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The St. James 4-H Parish Advisory Council continues its quest to improve and expand goat production in the parish through its Goat Revolving Programme. On Friday (December 18) three goats were presented to three student clubbites, bringing to 10, the number of animals that have been distributed under the programme since the start of the year. The recipients were: John's...

More than 250 workers displaced by the decline of the banana industry now have new career options, after completing the HEART Trust/ NTA Banana Sector Retraining Project. The project, funded by the European Union (EU), targeted communities in St. Catherine, St. Mary, St. Thomas, St. James, Portland and Clarendon. It gave some of the workers skills for transitioning to different...

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Dr. Christopher Tufton, on Wednesday (December 16), signed letters of intent with six Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) for the management of the island's fish sanctuaries. The NGOs are: Bluefield's Bay Fishermen's Friendly Society; Caribbean Coastal Area Management Foundation; Montego Bay Marine Park Trust; Negril Environment Protection Trust; Sandals Foundation; and the Nature Conservancy. Under the...

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Dr. Christopher Tufton, has said that the Jamaica Agricultural Marketing Information System (JAMIS) website will only benefit the sector if this important tool is utilised effectively. "A critical part of the process going forward is to ensure that we take this out to the parishes and demonstrate it to the various levels of stakeholders,...

Jamaica Broilers (JB) and Caribbean Broilers (CB) have agreed to reduce the price on a limited quantity of poultry meat to aid the poorer segment of the consuming public this Christmas. Under the initiative, which is in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, 10 containers or the equivalent of 250,000 kilogrammes of leg and breast quarters and mixed...

Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) member farmers in East Rural St. Andrew have called for more bushing and fixing of roads in their communities, to support increased agricultural production. At a recent meeting of the Kingston and St. Andrew Association of Branch Societies of the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS), a resolution was passed calling on the National Works Agency (NWA) and...

Government's commitment to provide the fishing industry with the necessary support to ensure its sustainability has been underscored by Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Dr. Christopher Tufton. Addressing a re-opening ceremony for the recently upgraded Rio Nuevo Fishing Beach, in St. Mary, on December 10, Dr. Tufton said this commitment has been made out of recognition of the critically...

Mission Director for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Dr. Karen Hilliard, has commended the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries for its vision and dedication in establishing the Jamaica Agricultural Marketing Information System (JAMIS) website. She also highlighted what she described as the remarkable growth in the agricultural sector, despite the economic downturn. Dr. Hilliard was speaking at...

All stakeholders in the agricultural industry are now able to equip themselves with vital pricing information, which will enable them to make better decisions about the sale and purchase of produce. This has been made possible through the Jamaica Agricultural Marketing Information System (JAMIS) website, which was launched by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, today (December 14), at its...

A decisive move by government to approve regulations that mandate the use of ethanol as a replacement for Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MBTE) in gasoline, has allowed Jamaica to meet an obligation to the European Union Sector Support Budget Programme for the transformation of the sugar industry. As a signatory to the African Caribbean and Pacific-European Union (ACP-EU) Cotonou Partnership...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw, has said that his Ministry has teamed with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries to reduce the number of import waivers granted for agricultural produce. "The Ministry of Agriculture has been working closely with me in cutting down on the number of waivers that importers want from the Ministry of...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon Audley Shaw, has said that his Ministry is widening the Development Bank of Jamaica's (DBJ) credit window to facilitate lending to farmers through credit unions. "What we have done is to suggest to the Development Bank of Jamaica that some of the money that is to on lend, should not just go...