Mr. Chairman, colleague minister, Mrs. Ffolkes- Abrahams, officials of JAMPRO, distinguished panelists,  ladies and gentlemen – a pleasant good afternoon to you. Let me begin by thanking the Jamaica promotions agency, JAMPRO, for their invitation and allowing me this opportunity to address this distinguished gathering on the tremendous opportunities and possiblities for producing for export. Agriculture currently contributes 5.6% to...

It will be recalled that Jamaica's sugar was for many years exported to Britain under the Commonwealth Sugar Agreement, that provided certain preferential arrangements with respect to access and price.  When the United Kingdom joined the then European Economic Community (EEC), it persuaded the EEC to adopt the basic tenets of the Commonwealth Sugar Agreement, to treat with sugar exports...

The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries would like to make clear that on average some 60,000 tonnnes of sugar is supplied to the domestic market on a yearly basis, with monthly consumption averaging 5,000 tonnes. It is traditional that we import sugar to make up for short-falls in our production after fulfillment of our overseas obligations.  This was the case...

Mr. Speaker, let me begin by thanking those who have directly or indirectly contributed to the efforts of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries over the past year. To the Honourable Prime Minister and the Cabinet for their guidance, my colleague Minister of State, JC Hutchinson, the Permanent Secretary and the thousands of staff members in the Ministry, for their...