Farmers With Reliable Water Access Urged to Ramp Up Production to Meet Christmas Demand
By: , September 23, 2026
Photo: JIS File
Farmlands at the Ebony Park Agro Park in Clarendon, which will benefit from an irrigation transmission force main project undertaken by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) at a cost of $114. 59 million. The project will serve the adjoining Spring Plain and Mango agro-parks, which were officially handed over on September 17.The Full Story
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green, is encouraging farmers with adequate water access to consider doubling their output to meet the upcoming demand for ground provision and vegetables for Christmas.
He said that the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), National Irrigation Commission (NIC) and Agro-Investment Corporation (Agro-Invest) are rolling out a programme to identify willing and able farmers in the agro-parks, and those who have reliable water access and underutilised land, to provide them with some support to expand their production.
“Clearly, there are some areas now that don’t have access to water, and those farmers can’t really expand their production, no matter how much water we truck to them, because it’s just not viable.
“But, in the areas that we have [adequate] irrigation, if you as a farmer could only manage five areas based on your resources, RADA and the Agro-Invest team want to talk to you to see if we can provide you with land preparation… seeds… fertiliser, you can move that five to 10 [acres],” Minister Green said.
“We are ramping up the production in the areas with water, so that when Christmas rolls around, we have sufficient food,” he added.
The Minister was addressing farmers and other agricultural stakeholders at the recent official handover of an irrigation transmission force main piping system at the Agro Park in Ebony Park, Clarendon.
The project represents a $114.59 million by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund’s (JSIF) under the second Rural Economic Development Initiative (REDI-II) project.
It involved installation of 1.8 kilometres of force transmission main, upgrading the existing distribution lines, rehabilitation of the pump at Spring Plain, which serves the shared Ebony Park-Spring Plain network, and the installation of pump switchgear.
It will improve irrigation service across the entire Ebony Park Agro-Park along with the adjoining Spring Plain and Mango agro-parks.
