Farmers in St. Ann Commended for High Volume of Food Production

Farmers in St. Ann have been credited for producing more than 89,000 tonnes of domestic crops in 2023, by Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Franklin Witter.

“That’s a very large output. This represents a contribution of [approximately] 11.5 per cent of the total domestic production for the year,” the State Minister pointed out.

Mr. Witter was speaking at the 10th staging of the St. Ann Agricultural, Industrial and Food Show, which was held at the Port Rhoades Sports Complex in St. Ann, on April 26.

Recently, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green, informed that the island produced some 779,254 tonnes of domestic crops in 2023, which is the country’s second highest production figure on record.

Mr. Witter commended the parish’s 170,000 farmers for their efforts in producing that amount of food crops.

He said the Ministry continues to be impressed with the level of Irish potato production being done in the parish, as, last year, despite the adverse weather conditions experienced by the island, the farmers produced a high yield of the crop.

“This kind of impressive production is being seen among several farmers in the parish, who continue to surpass the national average and even the world average in production, despite the issue of climate change challenges facing us at this time,” Mr. Witter said.

He also lauded the team at the Ministry for their “commitment to improving the quality of life for the farmers across Jamaica”.

The show was hosted by the St. Ann Association of Branch Societies, Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS), in collaboration with the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA). It brought together a mix of farmers, small businesses and other stakeholders.

During the show, long-standing contributors to the sector, based in the parish, were presented awards.

The event was held under the theme ‘Embracing agriculture by adapting to climate change’.