The new gamma irradiation machine to be installed at the International Centre for Environmental and Nuclear Sciences (ICENS) is expected to strengthen agricultural output, particularly for coconuts. Director General of the Hazardous Substances Regulatory Authority (HSRA), Dr. Cliff Riley, said the mutation breeding programme for coconuts will increase significantly. “The irradiator should be at ICENS in a couple of months....

Thousands of Jamaicans are reaping hearty and wholesome vegetables and tantalising herbs from small gardens planted in their backyards under the Backyard Gardening Kit Programme. Spearheaded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in collaboration with the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), the initiative, which was introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the distribution of 2,500 kits, aims to strengthen...

The Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) is recommending a five-step area-wide management (AWM) strategy to control the beet armyworm as the pest population increases locally. Beet armyworm, which mainly affects onion and scallion, devastated crop production in St. Elizabeth in the 1990s, and there is currently a surge in the population in Heartease, St. Thomas. Communities such as Albion, Norris,...

Argo-processors within the coconut sector are benefiting from the multipurpose and renewable features of the coconut plant. Practically the entire coconut plant can be processed to create byproducts for use, commercially or personally. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) with Baby Love CG Foods, producers of Vineyard Town Premium Blend, Larry Gardiner, says persons entering the industry must do proper homework to...

The Coconut Industry Board (CIB) will be providing critical support to coconut farmers as well as develop various strategic partnerships as they seek to enhance the sector’s continued growth. Chief Executive Officer of the Coconut Industry Board, Shaun Cameron, told JIS News that support to farmers is provided by helping them with good agricultural practices. “This is done based on...

It all started on January 25, 1910 with the establishment of the Government Farm School. Today, after existing in other predecessor institutions, namely the Jamaica School of Agriculture, the College of Agriculture and the Passley Gardens Teachers’ College, the College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE) stands 114 years strong as a trailblazer among local educational institutions. Unlike its predecessors,...

Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green, recently visited the agricultural heartland of Maroon Town in St. James, to assess the ongoing rehabilitation of the Zambia farm road, being done under the Government's Farm Road Programme. This vital $8-million infrastructure project is poised to significantly impact local farmers in the area through improved access to markets as well...

Much like their onion-producing counterparts in the Western end of the parish, farmers in Eastern St. Thomas are looking to make record-breaking strides in the cultivation of cassava. Nigel Levy, who has a plot in the Plantain Garden River Agro-Park, tells JIS News that the farmers there have turned to cassava as a steady crop that can survive the vagaries...