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Minister of Agriculture, Roger Clarke has said that the Ministry was taking the necessary precautions to ensure that beef imported was free of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease. Recently, there were two reported cases of the disease in the United States. The Minister, in his address at the Jamaica Agricultural Society/St. Catherine Association of Branch Societies...

Approximately 15,000 of 24,000 farmers in Clarendon have already been registered under the Rural Agricultural Development Authority's (RADA) Agricultural Business Information Systems (ABIS) Programme. Percival Shaw, Parish Manager for RADA, Clarendon told JIS News that the registration procedure was part of the government's anti-praedial larceny, being initiated by government. He noted that the process, which started in March, was going...

The Apiculture Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture will be embarking on a $3.5 million Beekeeping Apprenticeship Programme geared at providing employment opportunities for young men and women, who reside in rural communities. In an interview with JIS News, Reginald Peddy, Chief Apiculture Officer at Bodles Research Station, said that the programme was designed to equip young people with the...

The small hive beetle, which has been plaguing apiaries in Kingston and St. Andrew, has been brought under control, Reginald Peddy, Chief Apiculture Officer at Bodles Research Station in Old Harbour, St. Catherine has noted. Mr. Peddy informs JIS News that while Jamaica will never be totally rid of the pest, they have been able to keep it manageable through...

The Trelawny Yam Festival, this year, is expected to be the best ever, attracting thousands of Jamaicans and tourists to the parish. The event, being organized by the Southern Trelawny Environmental Agency (STEA), will be held in Albert Town on Easter Monday, March 28. "We are looking to make this the biggest and most successful Yam Festival since its inception...

President of the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS), Senator Norman Grant yesterday (February 25) moved a resolution in the Upper House seeking to gain the consent of the government to retain lands along the Highway 2000 corridor that are ideally suited for agricultural development. Senator Grant also said that there were ample supplies of land, unsuitable for agricultural purposes, which could...

The eighteenth staging of the St. Mary Agri Expo will be held at the James Bond Beach in Oracabessa from March 27-28. This year's show will be held under the theme: 'Agriculture and Tourism: A Partnership for Progress'. It was cancelled last year due to the outbreak of the Mocho Disease, which affected the banana industry. The show is being...

The Ministry of Agriculture will be spending $220 million as part of its effort to revitalise agricultural production, following the devastation caused by Hurricane Ivan last year September. Giving the main address at the launch of the St. Mary Agri Expo 2005 at the Beaches Boscobel Resort and Golf Club in St. Mary on January 29, Minister of Agriculture, Roger...

The Springfield Growers Association Limited was officially launched on January 17, with capital support of $15.6 million from the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) and the Agriculture Support Services Project (ASSP) in the Ministry of Agriculture. The project will assist 31 farmers in the production of non-traditional crops such as cabbage, carrots, sweet corn, tomato, pumpkin and sweet pepper on...

The Office of the National Reconstruction (ONR) is helping Jamaican farmers, who suffered devastating losses during Hurricane Ivan, to sow seeds of growth, by providing them with the necessary tools and supplies to begin the replanting process. Agricultural Consultant at the ONR, Neville Condappa, tells JIS News that since October, farmers have been receiving vouchers to purchase fertiliser, seeds, and...

The Apiculture Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture has put stringent measures in place to control the Aethina Tumida or the 'small hive beetle,' which is affecting bee apiaries in the corporate area. Reginald Peddy, Chief Apiculture Officer, told JIS News that the Unit has been able to design "some strips" that are placed in the hives to trap the...

As the government of Jamaica continues its thrust to provide adequate water supplies for all farming communities across the island, a contract valued at $53.5 million has been awarded to M&M Jamaica Limited for the construction of an irrigation system in Pedro Plains, St. Elizabeth. The contract was signed this morning (Nov. 24) at the Old Hope Road offices of...