One hundred and seventy-two farmers from St. Ann, with the majority being women, have successfully graduated from a Farmer Field School training programme, spearheaded by the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA). The inaugural training initiative, which was supported by the HEART/NSTA Trust and the Jamaica Bauxite Management Limited (JBM), aimed to empower local farmers with essential skills and knowledge to...

Thirty-four communities in St. Elizabeth continue to benefit from the National Irrigation Commission (NIC)’s drainage of the upper and lower morass of the Black River. Drain maintenance works conducted by the NIC facilitates flood mitigation for several communities, including Siloah, Santa Cruz, New River, Holland, Slipe, Middle Quarters, Thorton, Maggotty and Lacovia. NIC Director for Engineering and Technical Services, Rohan...

Coconut farmers or other interests looking to enter that industry are encouraged to make use of the various incentives offered by the Coconut Industry Board (CIB) to promote the sector’s continued growth. On Saturday, September 2, Jamaica joined other coconut-producing nations globally in celebrating World Coconut Day. The celebration took place at the Board’s Waterloo Road headquarters in Kingston. Speaking...

Plans have been intensified in the gathering of data by the Jamaica Agricultural Commodities Regulatory Authority (JACRA), to expand the production of spices on the island. According to Director General of the agency, Peter Thompson, a baseline assessment is being done, which will assist the JACRA to determine best practices for supporting farmers, under the Food for Progress Jamaica Spices...

Farmers have begun receiving assistance under the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining’s $200-million drought-mitigation programme. This was disclosed by Portfolio Minister, Hon. Floyd Green, while speaking on ‘Good Morning, Minister’, aired on Love 101 FM on Wednesday (August 30). He advised that $104 million was allocated for trucking water, $48 million is earmarked to purchase three trucks, while other...

With massive Government investments in irrigation systems for farmers, a senior farm leader believes the agricultural sector is poised for greater development and growth. Outgoing First Vice-President of the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS), Denton Alvaranga, told JIS News that with irrigation expansion and other support from the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), the sector should do well. Mr. Alvaranga said...

Participants in a recent virtual Food Loss and Waste (FLW) Measurement and Reporting Workshop have lauded the initiative as critical for furthering the island’s food security efforts. Stakeholders from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining; Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Statistics Division convened on August 23, to explore a practical methodology for...