The Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) is calling for greater use of technology by stakeholders within the coconut industry.  Speaking in a recent interview with JIS News, Executive Director for CARDI,  Ansari Hosein, said the application of technology will help farmers and agro-processors lower their production costs.  He noted that employing technology tools also helps in identifying pests...

Investors looking for an opportunity to join the growing multibillion-dollar global spice sector are being encouraged to explore the local production of ginger, turmeric and pimento. Chief of Party for the Food for Progress Jamaica Spices (JaSpice) Project, Dr. Ronald Blake, said that ginger and turmeric are largely used in both nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals. “For all three crops, what the...

More than 40 stakeholders in the coconut sector across the Caribbean are in the island participating in a five-day Regional Coconut Workshop being held at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston from March 4 to 8. Participants include coconut growers, researchers, agro-processors, government representatives and Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) personnel from several countries. Being held under...

Some $1.2 billion is to be invested in repurposing underutilised former bauxite lands for agricultural use, says Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green. “What we are looking to do is to take those lands that are now being underutilised or that mining has been finished and they are now restored, and to put them into active production,”...

Young farmers and youth interested in a career in farming are being encouraged to produce coconuts and their by-products, through the Coconut Industry Board (CIB). Operations Manager at Michael Black Farms, Zachary Black, said the sector presents an opportunity for sustainable earning and innovation using Jamaica’s coconuts. “We want to encourage people that it's not just a long time, because...

Jamaica, through the work of the Coconut Industry Board (CIB), has been able to reduce the spread of the lethal yellowing disease in the coconut industry by 70 per cent. Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green, made the disclosure at the opening of the regional training workshop on Sustainable and Resilient Coconut Production within a Changing Climate,...

If Jamaica is to not just survive but thrive, the issue of productivity in agriculture against climate change must be taken very seriously, says Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator the Hon. Matthew Samuda. “It is why Jamaica is currently on track to invest some US$270 million in irrigation in the plains of...