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Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Dr. Christopher Tufton, has emphasised that the agricultural sector should not be viewed as a rescue plan in times of crisis, but should be seen as a tool for sustainable development. "A rescue plan suggests a short term measure to solve a particular problem at a particular point in time. A sustainable programme for...

Prime Minister the Hon. Bruce Golding has urged farmers in Clarendon to use the technology and expertise available to them to plant more and better ginger. Mr. Golding was visiting the community of Top Alston in Clarendon, which was abuzz with activity on Labour Day yesterday (May 25), continuing the project to establish a ginger sucker nursery. Farmers are being...

The district of Top Alston, in North West Clarendon, was abuzz with activity on Labour Day (May 25), as scores of persons turned out to participate in a ginger tissue culture project, one of six activities selected by the National Labour Day Committee for national focus. Situated in a prime ginger producing area, represented by Minister of State in the...

Prime Minister the Hon. Bruce Golding has called for more investment in the area of agro-processing, as adding value to local produce will result in greater economic rewards, not only for the sector, but for the country. "We need to do more with the items before we ship them away. We have to add value to the things that we...

Increasing global concern about food security has prompted local authorities to strengthen their efforts at getting Jamaicans to value the importance of cultivating varieties of food in sufficient quantities to feed the nation. Recent initiatives, including the Government's "Eat What You Grow, Grow What You Eat" campaign, which have been geared at promoting greater inclusion of staples such as breadfruit,...

The Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) will be providing tractor service to farmers across the island. The initiative will enable farmers to access land preparation services at affordable rates. Addressing a JIS Think Tank today (May 21), Chief Executive Officer of RADA, Al Powell, noted that "traditionally for many farmers, the most sophisticated tools are machete and fork (but) with...

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Dr. Christopher Tufton, has called on the international community to put aside its business as usual mindset in favour of urgent, concrete action for the benefit of small island states struggling to meet their development goals. Addressing the opening of the High Level Segment of the 17th Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development...

Refurbishing work on a building situated next to the site of the tissue culture ginger project in Top Alston, Clarendon, one of the four projects selected by the National Labour Day Planning Committee for special focus, is almost complete. Speaking at a JIS 'Think Tank' today (May 20), Chairman of the National Labour Day Planning Committee, Dorothea Clarke, said that...

Labour Day activities this year will include a ginger resuscitation project in Butlers Run, in the Top Alston area of Clarendon. "Small farmers in and around the area will benefit from practical demonstrations on pest eradication, as well as greenhouse and open field planting methodologies, by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, RADA and the Scientific Research Council," said project...

Sixty five per cent of mined out lands in the bauxite producing areas, has been put to productive use in agricultural endeavours, Minister of Energy and Mining, Hon. James Robertson has reported. Speaking at a Town hall meeting on May 19, at the Golf View Hotel in Mandeville, Manchester, the Minister also revealed that less than one per cent of...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw, has proposed food processing as an alternative to the disabled bauxite/alumina industry as a major foreign exchange earner. "The implosion we have had with the bauxite industry is a wake up call for all of us," Mr. Shaw told Tuesday night's first in a series of Post Budget Town Hall...

The Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC) is being merged with the Agricultural Support Services Productive Projects Fund Limited, as part of a restructuring exercise being undertaken by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. The exercise, which started last year, is aimed at improving service provided by the various agencies of the Ministry, with particular focus on extension, research, marketing, business facilitation,...