Farmers in West Portland to Benefit from all Purpose Tractor

Farmers in West Portland are to benefit from an all purpose tractor and other equipment valued at US$88,266, under the West Portland Jamaica Agricultural Society Modernization Farming Project, in April.
President of the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS), Senator Norman Grant, who made the disclosure during the State of the Nation Debate at Gordon House on February 16, said the project would provide invaluable benefits to the farmers of Hart Hill, Windsor Castle, Spring Gardens and surrounding areas, by stimulating increased productivity and contribute to the reduction of the urban/rural drift.
Senator Grant said the project was firmly endorsed by the Japanese Government, which had provided the tractor, and would ably complement the JAS/Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) pool of tractors.
In order to help in the transformation of the agricultural sector into a commercially viable industry, the JAS, supported by the DBJ, has invested in the provision of six tractors valued at $12 million, to be used for the modernization of farming practices.
The pool of six tractors is being utilized by JAS farmers in the parishes of St. Mary, St. Catherine, St. Ann, Manchester, St. Elizabeth and Clarendon, with a total 1,158 acres of land ploughed during the January to December 2005 period.