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Ground has been broken at the site of the post harvest packing house facility being established by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in Hounslow, St. Elizabeth. The facility, which is part of the Improving Jamaica Agricultural Productivity (IJAP) project, is one of two that will facilitate post harvest crops in cluster locations. In giving an overview of the IJAP...

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Dr. Christopher Tufton, says that praedial larceny is among a number of issues affecting farmers, which his Ministry will be addressing soon. He made the disclosure during an interview with the media, at Woodstock Farm, Westmoreland, on Friday (October 23), following a tour of several farms in the parish. Dr. Tufton confirmed that foremost...

Domestic food crop production in Westmoreland is up fifty percent for the July-September 2009 quarter, when compared with the similar period in 2008. Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Dr. Christopher Tufton, has attributed the increased production in the parish to a number of factors, including: favourable weather conditions; deliberate production and productivity programmes pursued by the Ministry; and the...

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Dr. Christopher Tufton, has outlined a number of steps to improve food packaging and reduce post harvest loss to farmers. "We have established a range of post harvest infrastructure across the country. This one, at Hounslow, being the most ambitious of the packing houses," he said. Dr Tufton was speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony...

With the 2009/10 sugar cane crop set to begin in the first week of December, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Dr. Christopher Tufton, says that he is very pleased with the repair work being done at the Frome Sugar Factory in Westmoreland. Following a tour and a meeting, on Friday (October 23), with the management of the factory and...

Cabinet has approved the award of a contract to start infrastructure work for the Tilston/Bounty Hall Housing Development in Trelawny, under the Sugar Workers Housing Programme. This was announced by Minister with responsibility for Information and Telecommunications, Hon. Daryl Vaz, at Wednesday's (October 21) Post Cabinet Press briefing at Jamaica House. The 27 hectare estate will have 288 serviced lots,...

Garvey Maceo High School, in Clarendon, has received US$10,000 ($890,000), from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FOA), to develop agriculture at the institution. At a World Food Day ceremony at the school on October 16, the FAO Representative to Jamaica, Belize and the Bahamas, Dr. Dunstan Campbell, informed JIS News that each year they visit a school and assist with...

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Dr. Christopher Tufton, has urged persons to avoid foods that have been identified as leading contributors to certain chronic health problems. The Minister made the call at a World Food Day ceremony and exhibition, held at the Garvey Maceo High School, in Clarendon, on October 16. "Foods should be viewed from the standpoint of...

Young persons are being encouraged to get involved in the agricultural sector, as wealth can be created from this action. Acting Deputy Parish Manager for the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), in Manchester, Mr. Martin Lawrence, made the call at a World Food Day ceremony, at Cross Keys High School, in Manchester, on October 14. "We at RADA have embarked...

Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FOA), in Jamaica, Dr. Dustan Campbell, says there are substantial and sustained efforts underway to reduce the number of hungry people in the world by half, to no more than 420 million by 2015. "There are encouraging signals of a shift in policy. The Joint Statement on Global Food Security at the L'Aquila...

Head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries' Agro-Investment Corporation, Dr. David Lowe, has said that there is scope for the development and growth of natural and organic agriculture in Jamaica, through a national policy framework for the sector. "The strategies that we are looking at implementing, specifically organic, (are) really to contribute to the effort by identifying the pillars...

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Dr. Christopher Tufton, has said that the country has received "value for money" in contracting the services of consultancy firm, Corporate Strategies Limited, to assist with the divestment of its five sugar estates. "So far, the returns have been that the taxpayers have not been called upon by the sugar cane industry," Dr. Tufton...