The Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) is encouraging farmers to keep their livestock cool during the summer months. With rising temperatures and repeated record-breaking highs, Livestock Specialist at RADA, Maxine Brown, said farmers can implement short-term measures to protect animals. “Because of the heat that we are having, what farmers need to do, immediately, is to make sure that their...

The Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) is urging farmers islandwide to make preparations to protect their properties, crops and livestock against the impact of potential storms. Jamaica is now in the second month of the Atlantic Hurricane Season, which runs from June 1 to November 30. Speaking to JIS News in a recent interview, Senior Plant Health and Food-Safety Officer...

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining has been tasked with identifying orchard crops that can be grown on lands in southern Clarendon owned by the Sugar Company of Jamaica (SCJ) that are not currently under cultivation. Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, made the disclosure while addressing residents during a brief tour of the area on Wednesday (July...

Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green, says a retreat will be held for judges to sensitise them on the harm being done to farmers due to praedial larceny. Calling it the biggest threat facing the agricultural sector, Mr. Green said one of the main problems is that the fines are too low, to the point where the...

St. Elizabeth farmer Howard Powell has received much-needed assistance to “pick up the pieces” after his fruit and vegetable crops were washed away during heavy rains in June. The farmer, who plants watermelons, tomatoes and sweet peppers, told JIS News that he lost everything. “When the rains came, I had melons that were above five or six weeks old on...

The Government has furthered efforts to boost the country’s food security with the announcement of $35 million in support for the Jamaica Organic Agriculture Movement (JOAM). Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Franklin Witter, made the announcement on Thursday (July 6) during the organisation’s annual ‘Farming as a Business’ conference at the University of...

Some 30 farmers in South St. Elizabeth, who suffered severe losses during recent heavy rains, have received essential inputs and supplies to assist in the recovery effort. The items, which were handed over at the Bull Savannah Church of God of Prophecy in the parish on Thursday (June 29), included seeds, irrigation supplies, fertilisers, chemicals, farm tools, among other things....