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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...

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Dr. Christopher Tufton, will pay a two-day official visit to Washington from September 10 to 11. The Minister, who is visiting Washington on the invitation of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), will meet with representatives of the World Cocoa Foundation. The visit comes against the background of the Government's initiatives to...

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Dr. Christopher Tufton, has said that his Ministry will co-operate fully with the Office of the Contractor-General (OCG) in investigating procurement practices at the Sugar Company of Jamaica (SCJ). This follows Friday's (September 4) announcement that the OCG had launched a special probe into allegations of fraudulent activities, in the procurement of equipment by...

The Food Storage and Prevention of Infestation Division (FSPID) of the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, on Tuesday (September 1), destroyed some 25 tonnes of rice which was shipped to Jamaica from Vietnam in late June, but was found to be contaminated with rodent excreta. The FSPID's Senior Food Storage Scientist, Tamara Morrison, told JIS News that the rice,...

Jamaica now has a plan in place to respond comprehensively to a range of disasters that may affect agriculture, and the livelihoods of persons in the sector. This was revealed by Chairman of the National Agricultural Disaster Risk Management Committee, Al Powell, at a JIS Think Tank Tuesday (September 1). Mr. Powell pointed out that, in the past the focus...