Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Floyd Green, on Tuesday (August 3) officially launched the $50 million National Small Ruminant Development Programme at the Hounslow Research Station in St. Elizabeth. The programme is geared towards rapidly increasing the population of primarily goat and sheep, thus increasing the local production, productivity and quality of small ruminant meat and milk. This is...

More than 200 elderly persons and shut-ins from Middle Quarters and its environs in St. Elizabeth were treated to a warm meal and care packages recently by the Middle Quarters Community Development Committee (CDC).  President of the Middle Quarters CDC, Stashauna Burnett, told JIS News that the initiative was in response to the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on...

The Government is providing approximately $70 million in loan funding assistance for the island’s dairy farmers.  Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Floyd Green, says the funds are being provided through the Jamaica Dairy Development Board’s (JDDB) Dairy Concessionary Loan Programme.  “Through this financial scheme, farmers can improve the quality of [their livestock and] increase [their] herd numbers,” Mr. Green said.  He was speaking during a ceremony for the hand-over of silage to the St. Elizabeth Dairy Development Co-operative, on Friday (July 23), at...

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Floyd Green, is encouraging farmers to utilise more climate-smart technology and practices in order to minimise crop loss from more frequent and extreme weather events.   He said that as a small island developing state, Jamaica is very susceptible to the effects of climate change.   “We have seen it; no one has to convince us in agriculture about the realities of the longer dry periods, shorter and more intense rainy periods...

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Floyd Green, has welcomed the insurance product, GraceKennedy (GK) Weather Protect, which will provide coverage for farmers and fisherfolk impacted by adverse weather events. The policy is being provided through GK Insurance and will protect the businesses of farmers and fishers against heavy rain, wind and drought. Mr. Green, who was speaking at the...

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Floyd Green, says the government has put in place interim protocols to facilitate the cultivation and processing of psilocybin mushrooms, also known as ‘magic mushrooms’ in Jamaica. “What we have been doing with the team is really looking at how can those who want to participate in the industry at least know the protocols...

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Floyd Green, is advising small ruminant farmers that creating their own cocktail of medicine to treat parasites in animals is not sustainable and will lead to greater production costs. “In Jamaica, we hear from our farmers the stories that there is significant resistance to the main classes of drugs available for treatment, and as...