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Some $5.4 million has been set aside in the 2009/2010 budget, for monitoring and consultancy related to a Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) loan to the Jamaican Government, to fund a line of credit to the agricultural sector. As outlined in the Estimates of Expenditure, the project, which is being financed by the CDB, underscores the Government's efforts to make loan...

Councillors in the Trelawny Parish Council, will give up 5% percent of their salary to a needy cause within the parish, in keeping with Prime Minister Bruce Golding's call for elected officials to follow his lead. In a national broadcast last week Sunday, Mr. Golding said he would "lead by example" and give up his 7% pay increase due April...

The Government is spending approximately $724 million on the Banana Support Project this fiscal year, as outlined in the 2009/10 Estimates of Expenditure, currently before the House of Representatives. The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries will continue to administer this project, which is funded by the Government and the European Union. Its main objective is to promote sustainable development in...

The Hurricane Gustav Agricultural Rehabilitation Project has received a boost of approximately $260 million in the 2009/10 Estimates of Expenditure, currently before the House of Representatives. The project aims at assisting in the rehabilitation of the Jamaican agricultural sector, through improvement of the rural road infrastructure and production of targeted crops. To be completed under the project are: assistance to...

Further strengthening of the support system for farmers and other key stakeholders in the agricultural industry is expected during 2009/10, as $9 million has been allocated to the Agricultural Support Services Project (ASSP). This is outlined in the Estimates of Expenditure, currently before the House of Representatives. The project, funded by the Inter American Development Bank (IDB) and the Government...

The transformation of the sugarcane industry is to be bolstered by an injection of $1.8 billion into the Sugar Transformation Project in 2009/10. In the 2009/10 Estimates of Expenditure, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries has stated that the overall goal of the project is to achieve an effective transition of the industry to a sustainable sugar cane sector by...

Some 20 farmers, primarily in the Sevens River area of St. James, are to benefit from a GBP $30,000 (J$4 million) grant from the United Kingdom-based non-governmental group, Oxfam International, Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) President, Senator Norman Grant, has informed. Oxfam International was formed in 1995 by a group of independent non-governmental organisations that collaborate to, as best as possible,...

Jamaica led production in February among Sugar Association of the Caribbean (SAC) member states. A release from the SAC says that in February, Jamaica produced 26,038 tonnes of sugar, compared to Belize's 10,503 tonnes; Guyana's 7,928 tonnes; and Barbados' 1,072 tonnes, following its late start on February 24. Only four countries in the English-speaking region continue to export sugar. Trinidad...

President of the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS), Senator Norman Grant, is hoping for the inclusion of an agricultural "stimulus package" in the 2009/2010 Estimates of Expenditure. Senator Grant also welcomed the Government's decision on (April 6) to rename the Ministry of Agriculture as Agriculture and Fisheries, noting that the name change suggested a much anticipated increased focus on the fishing...

The St. Catherine 4-H Movement staged a successful Parish Achievement Day on Thursday (April 2), with clubbities from some 35 schools and clubs throughout the parish mounting displays in keeping with the national theme: 'Youth Responding to Food Security.' The event, held at the Spanish Town Primary School, featured exhibits of crops cultivated from school farms and backyard gardens, which...

Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Christopher Tufton, has said that the country's export strategy must be adjusted to keep pace with the dynamism of the markets it is targeting. "Our export strategy must be driven by an understanding of the marketplace that we would like to serve," Dr. Tufton told the Jamaica Exporters' Association's (JEA) quarterly luncheon, at the Terra Nova...

The Ministry of Agriculture has started a comprehensive reorganisation of its marketing services, to assist farmers in addressing problems with sourcing markets for their produce. Permanent Secretary in the Ministry Donovan Stanberry, told journalists at a media briefing on Tuesday (March 31), at the Ministry's Old Hope Road offices, Kingston, that a team has been appointed to undertake significantly enhanced...