Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Pearnel Charles Jr., is urging cattle farmers to ensure their animals are tagged under the National Animal Identification and Traceability System (NAITS). Cattle farmers can access free ear tags, provided by the Government, to be used in conjunction with a cattle passport, which will enable them to properly identify their animals if stolen. Speaking...

The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries will be implementing strategies under the ‘Grow Smart, Eat Smart’ campaign, to expand the sector’s growth and sustainability. These engagements include the ‘Planting with a Purpose’ initiative, which will see bauxite lands not intended for mining, being used for orchard crops; and the ‘Farm In Schools’ programme that aims to teach students about the...

The Government has reiterated its full commitment in ensuring that arable agricultural lands in Innswood, St. Catherine, are utilised solely for farming and production. Speaking at a post Cabinet press briefing on Wednesday (September 21), Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister with Responsibility for Information, Hon. Robert Morgan, said the Administration had taken a policy decision...

The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries’ ‘Grow Smart, Eat Smart’ Campaign aims to boost agricultural production, while increasing the supply of nutritious and affordable foods to improve the population’s health. Portfolio Minister, Hon. Pearnel Charles Jr., said the strategy will “help us to produce a healthy and constructive nation; a nation that will be able to be more productive in...

Farmers of the Needham Pen Farmers Association in St. Thomas are now more equipped to operate their farms as viable businesses, after receiving key knowledge and training in this regard. Under a partnership between the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) and Commonwealth of Learning, 24 farmers successfully completed an eight-week ‘Farming as a Business’ training programme earlier this year. Twenty...

Cattle farmers in sections of Clarendon are to receive free tagging of animals, as part of a direct intervention by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries to combat praedial larceny. In a statement on Thursday (September 15), Portfolio Minister, Hon. Pearnel Charles Jr., decried the recent increase in reports of larceny of cattle in the Kensington/Alexandria area of the parish....

Farmers in the constituency of St. Elizabeth North West are preparing to embark on a major castor bean project. Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Hon. J.C. Hutchinson, informed that the Jamaica Bauxite Institute (JBI) is in the process of establishing a project, aimed at using mined out bauxite lands to plant castor beans and intercrop these with cash...