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President of the Jamaica Pig Farmers Association (JPFA), Mrs. Angella Bardowell, has said that despite the challenges faced by members of the association during the 2008/09 fiscal year, pig farmers "stepped up to the plate and produced." Mrs. Bardowell was speaking at the Annual General Meeting of the JPFA on September 17, at the Golf View Hotel, in Mandeville, Manchester....

Chief Technical Officer in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Dr. Mark Panton, has said that there are plans in place to roll out a National Animal Identification Programme. Dr. Panton was speaking at the 7th Annual General Meeting of the Jamaica Pig Farmers Association, Thursday (September 17) at the Golf View Hotel, Mandeville. "There are current plans to roll...

Plans are being implemented to boost the annual production of cocoa, and to ensure its viability and sustainability within the agricultural sector. Cocoa Industry Board (CIB) consultant, Neville Condappa, made the announcement while addressing a seminar to encourage investments in the sector, at Jamaica Trade and Invest's (JTI) offices in Kingston on Thursday (September 17). Mr. Condappa noted that cocoa...

President of the Kingston and St. Andrew (KSA) branch association of the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS), Senator Norman Grant, has said that the society's Eat Jamaican campaign has been a major contributor to the growth in agricultural production since last year. "If we have no major disaster, growth in domestic agricultural production could end up at 10% this year, which...

The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries has secured international assistance in the resuscitation of the island's cocoa industry. On Thursday (Sept. 17), Portfolio Minister, Hon. Dr. Christopher Tufton; United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission Director for Jamaica, Dr. Karen Hilliard; and President of the World Cocoa Foundation, Mr. Bill Guyton signed a declaration of intent, which will provide...

Chairman of the Manchester Parish Development Committee (PDC), Clarence Myers, has reiterated the need for the agricultural sector to be given the focus needed to be sustainable. "Agriculture is the way to go, bauxite wont be here for ever. Agriculture is more sustainable, and our actions must be to do more than we have been doing, and get the younger...

A team of experts from Agricultural Cooperatives Development International (ACDI) and Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance (VOCA) will be in Jamaica next Wednesday (September 23), to assist the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in exploring restructuring the cocoa industry. The decision to send the team was made by President/CEO of ACDI/VOCA, Carl Leonard, at a meeting with Jamaica's Agriculture and...

National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) is considering licensing organisations, like the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS), to deal with illegal dumping in certain areas. "We can't employ enough people to do that, and you are there and you are aware of what is happening," NSWMA Executive Director, Joan Gordon Webley, told Corporate Area farmers attending the Kingston and St. Andrew...

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Dr. Christopher Tufton, has called on the Organisation of American States (OAS) to assist Caribbean countries to address challenges within the agricultural sector. Minister Tufton made the call on Friday (Sept. 11) when he paid a courtesy call on Secretary General of the OAS, Jose Miguel Insulza, at his downtown Washington, D.C office in...

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Dr. Christopher Tufton, has pointed out that an agricultural marketing facility would be set up in the New York area of the USA soon, as the Ministry seeks to better understand the end users in the marketplace and take advantage of emerging trends. He argued that in order to market Jamaican products, "we need...

Prime Minister the Hon. Bruce Golding has expressed the view that if Jamaica is to have a brighter future in agriculture then it must be linked to manufacturing and driven by technology. Speaking at his sixth Town Hall Meeting, in Annotto Bay, St. Mary on September 09, he said "We have to integrate agriculture with manufacturing; and agro-processing is something...

The St. Ann branch of the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) has embarked on a farmer re-verification programme in the parish. Branch Manager of RADA, Pedro Worghs told JIS News that the Extension Officers and Farm Assistants were out in the fields collecting data, so as to re-verify those farmers who were already registered with RADA as well as to...