More

The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries has disbursed grants totaling some $51 million, to approximately 300 ex-sugar workers who have been displaced by the restructuring of the local industry. The grants form part of the Government's Economic Mitigation Programme for Displaced Sugar Workers, to be funded over the next five years by a $2.1 billion provision, which was negotiated by...

A unique programme to take Caribbean food and drink on a culinary tour across the United Kingdom (UK), was launched in London, yesterday (March 9), at a special ceremony, held at the Jamaican High Commission. Chief Executive Officer of World Foods and founder of the event, Mr. Derek Morrison, told JIS News that the initiative, which was started in the...

Women continue to come together and pool resources to establish cottage industries and other worthwhile projects, to empower themselves and forge ahead in the male-dominated business world. One such profitable venture is the new improved Flower Hill Producers Co-operative Society Limited, located in Flower Hill, St. James, which is involved in the production of bammies for the local and export...

The Clarendon-based Ebony Park HEART Academy on Friday (March 5) unveiled its agro eco-tourism project, which is a combination of nature and farm-related activities to attract locals and visitors to the island. The launch was held during Farm Fest 2010, which is Ebony Park's annual agricultural show. Through the project, visitors are encouraged to experience agricultural life firsthand and participate...

Equipment valued at some $50 million has been made available to farmers, as part of measures to kick start the mechanisation process within the agricultural sector. The equipment, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the European Union (EU), was handed over today (March 9), at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, at Hope, in Kingston....

Cabinet recently approved the mandate for the Sugar Company of Jamaica Holdings Limited (SCJH) to conduct negotiations with interested parties who had submitted unsolicited proposals with respect to the divestment of the Frome, Monymusk and Bernard Lodge Sugar estates. A Commission of Enquiry has also been approved which will review the current institutional and regulatory pricing arrangements in the sugar...

The 2010 National Secondary Schools' Food and Nutrition Quiz, which aims to enhance and promote food, nutrition and healthy lifestyle in schools and communities, was officially launched at the Ministry of Education's Caenwood Centre in Kingston yesterday (March 2). The competition is the Jamaican leg of a Caribbean-wide contest, organised by the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute (CFNI). According to...

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Mr. Donavan Stanberry, has called on agricultural training institutions to focus on areas that will put the sector on a sustainable path. "We are at a point where the business of agricultural education has to re-invent itself. Agriculture education must support the new agriculture, one that is technology driven, one that...

The Portland Parish Development Committee (PDC) has embarked on a number of strategies aimed at revitalizing its operations, and improving its effectiveness in pursuing the mandate to serve the people of the parish. The strategies include fundraising ventures to enable financial sustainability, re-energizing of the Secretariat and the implementation of initiatives aimed at reorganizational strengthening and capacity building. These were...

Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Christopher Tufton, said that Government was pursuing a number of initiatives for young people to pursue a successful career in agriculture. Responding to a caller on the radio programme, 'Jamaica House Live' earlier this week, Dr. Tufton said there was the need for aspiring agronomists to have financial support for their education. The Credit Bureau will...

Banker Aubyn Hill has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Sugar Company of Jamaica (SCJ) Holdings Limited, which manages the remaining Government-owned sugar estates- Frome, Monymusk and Bernard Lodge. This was disclosed by Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, in a statement to the House of Representatives Tuesday (February 23) at Gordon House....

Two new hybrid disease-resistant varieties of tomatoes, the Summer Star and Striker, were unveiled at the Ministry of Agriculture's research station at Bodles, St. Catherine, on Wednesday (February24). Their development was a collaborative effort between the Ministry's Research and Development division, Ansa Seed Company of California, USA and St. Jago Farm Supplies, St. Catherine. Both varieties are among four hybrids...