Improvement Expected in Quality and Availability of Certified Pepper Seeds

The highly anticipated Seed Certification and Quality Control System, developed under the Hot Pepper Value Chain Project, is expected to improve the quality, traceability and availability of certified pepper seeds in Jamaica.

The seed database is one of the flagship deliverables of the project, which is formally titled, ‘Improving Phytosanitary, Food Safety and Market Access Opportunities along the Hot Pepper Value Chain in Jamaica Project’.

Facilitated through the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the system is a cloud-based national database that will also be used for other commodities, such as citrus and ginger.

Programme Manager for the Seed and Nursery Certification Programme in the Plant Quarantine and Produce Inspection Unit, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Alfred Barrett, said the database should be rolled out in a month.

Mr. Barrett was speaking at a recent JIS Think Tank, held at the agency’s Television Department, 5-9 South Odeon Avenue in Kingston.

“We want to make sure that the quality of the seeds available for production is of such where farmers can purchase with confidence. The database has two aspects. It has the Ministry side that will control all the administrative functions, but then it will be open to the public, farmers, nursery operators and seed merchants. They are going to be able to go in and create an account. Once approved, then they are going to be able to make requests for whatsoever they need. Let’s say they want to be a seed producer, they will go in and upload all the required information,” he said.

“From our end we will see that a request has been made. We will then be able to analyse all the information. You can upload your maps, your field plan – everything – so we can see before. Then you make a request for field visits,” he added.

The system’s purpose centres around digitising the certification process for hot pepper seeds, supporting the clean seed certification programme and enhancing transparency, efficiency, and compliance across seed production.

Mr. Barrett said the system also allows requests for laboratories to do sampling after harvest.

“We come in, we collect the sample and then send it to the labs. The labs then are able also to upload that information so that we can see in real time what is there. We can then print the labels with your updated information and data. We also extend that to the nursery. While the project was surrounding mainly the seed production, it’s also going to facilitate the nursery component, so the nurseries are also going to be able to register,” he noted.

Key stakeholders and major users of this system will be the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Farmers, Seed Producers, Nursery Operators, the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), Plant Quarantine and Produce Inspection (PQPI), and the Research & Development Division (R&DD).

The US$1-million Hot Pepper Value Chain Project is funded by the Standards and Trade Development Facility and is being implemented by the FAO, in collaboration with the Bureau of Standards Jamaica and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining.