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Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Christopher Tufton, has called on the People's Co-operative Banks to devise new and easier ways to assess farmers for agricultural loans. The Minster, who was addressing the Annual General Meeting of the National People's Co-operative Bank held recently at the Kendal Conference Centre in Manchester, said that the small farmer, in seeking capital, must be evaluated...

State Minister in the Ministry of Agriculture, J.C. Hutchinson, has said that the Ministry has put a number of programmes in place to assist farmers, with the aim of boosting agricultural production. "We have started what we call the production and productivity programme. This is one where we are actually distributing herbicides. We are giving people assistance in land preparation,...

Seven members of the St. James 4-H Movement were recently presented with young female Nubian goats for rearing and breading, as the club's goat revolving programme moved into its second year. The project, which was launched in the parish, last year, is valued at some $200,000, with a total of 11 clubbites and two leaders benefiting so far. Under the...

Young people in St. Elizabeth are being urged to get into beekeeping, to satisfy the huge local and international demand for honey and other bee by-products. "Jamaica has potential; very, very big potential in beekeeping, because honey is in short supply both locally and internationally," said First Deputy Chairman of the Jamaica Federation of Commercial Apiculturists (JFCA), Elton Cawley. He...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Audley Shaw, has underscored the need for higher output in agriculture, to reduce the number of waivers that the Ministry is called on to grant for imported food items. The Minister, who spoke at the Annual General Meeting of the National People's Co-operative (PC) Bank of Jamaica, on Wednesday (February 18), at the...

Minister of State in the Ministry of Mining and Telecommunications, Laurence Broderick, has proposed that rehabilitated bauxite lands be used for establishing dormitory settlements, as well as for farming and forestry. "We are now in the Ministry seriously looking on the development of new townships. We are going to (look at) what they need for hotel workers, because we have...

Jamaican farmers are ready to explore options that are available for greater marketing of roots, tubers and other crops, Minister of State in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Michael Stern, has said. The State Minister, who addressed a public forum, put on by the Scientific Research Council (SRC), at the Dorritt Bent Hall, in Spaldings, Clarendon, on February...

The Fisheries Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, is advising that a revolving loan of $50 million, administered by the National People's Co-operative Bank, is available to small fishers to move the sector forward. Fishers can use loans to retool, purchase additional equipment, boats, engines and other inputs. The repayment schedule is negotiable, and is based on the circumstances of...

In a recent interview regarding the delay in the importation of the second batch of fertilizer, the Minister of Agriculture explained that the setback was as a result of a directive from the Office of the Contractor General to open the procurement process. The fact however, is that the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce and the Jamaica Commodity Trading...

The Social Development Commission (SDC), St. Elizabeth Parish Office, in partnership with the Jamaica Information Service (JIS), will be staging an Agri- Business Expo on February 19, at the Santa Cruz Community Centre, in the parish. This will be staged to sensitise unemployed young people in the parish about agri-business opportunities that exist in two non-traditional agricultural areas, namely bee-keeping...

Proceeds of a coffee festival held recently in Cedar Valley, St. Thomas, are to be donated to the Cedar Valley Primary and Junior High School, to aid in the erection of a perimeter fence, as part of the school's security management strategy. Some $80,000, proceeds from two festivals, will be given to the school at a special handing over ceremony...

The Ministry of Agriculture today (Feb.17) launched its HIV/AIDS Workplace Policy, joining the list of Government and private sector organisations that have taken a stand against HIV/AIDS discrimination in the workplace. The programme, through a collaborative and culturally sensitive approach, is committed to reducing the incidence and impact of HIV and AIDS, and creating a caring and supportive environment where...