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State Minister for Agriculture, J.C. Hutchinson, has urged farmers to join their local Production and Marketing Organisation (PMO), to benefit from assistance from the Ministry of Agriculture. The PMOs, which comprise groups of farmers at the district level, are responsible for distributing farming inputs, which are channelled through the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA). "We have put in place a...

Persons are being warned not to fish in fish sanctuaries or they could face hefty fines ranging from $250,000 to $2,000,000. Acting Director of the Marine Branch of the Fisheries Division, Ian Jones, speaking to JIS News during a tour of the Black River Bay fish sanctuary last week, said that previously, the fines were so low that some fishers...

The Ministry of Agriculture is looking at using artificial shelters to replenish lobster stock in the fish sanctuaries being established across the island, and will be seeking private sector support in the process. These shelters, called condominiums, have already proved to be a success, where they are being used in lobster breeding at the Bowden Fish Sanctuary in St. Thomas....

Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Christopher Tufton, has said that the fish sanctuaries, which were being established across the island, would overtime be developed into visitor attractions. "The fish sanctuaries have worked in other countries and overtime . we are going to set up tours of the sanctuaries, where fishers can use their boats and be part of it," he stated....

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...