JACRA Commences Handover Of Agricultural Inputs To Support Coffee Farmers’ Post Hurricane Recovery

As part of its post-hurricane recovery efforts, the Jamaica Agricultural Commodities Regulatory Authority (JACRA) has commenced the handover of 5,000 bags of fertiliser and essential agricultural inputs to assist coffee farmers.

The $35-million investment aims to support recovery, restore production, and rebuild livelihoods.

Of the total, 2,000 bags of fertiliser valued at $10 million, along with other key agricultural inputs, were handed over to the Jamaica Coffee Growers Association and the Jamaica Coffee Exporters Association during a ceremony on December 17 at JACRA’s headquarters in Kingston.

Public Relations and Communications Specialist at JACRA, Kenrick Morgan, told JIS News that the support to coffee farmers also aims to enrich the soil with nutrients, “so that the trees can return to productivity”.

He also noted that coffee seedlings will be provided to assist in regenerating the industry.

“We are hoping to begin rolling out the planting of various seedlings to help regenerate the coffee industry to a particular level. So, certain trees that have been torn down following the [hurricane], we hope to replace those and add more trees to help raise it to a particular level.

“We currently have, at our disposal, about 15,000 coffee seedlings for the Blue Mountain Coffee region specifically, and about 10,000 coffee seedlings for the High Mountain region. We started rolling out some of them in the Blue Mountains already, and we’re hoping to do the same for the High Mountain region shortly,” Mr. Morgan said.

He further indicated that preliminary figures show approximately 35 per cent damage to the coffee industry, noting that additional support will be extended to other commodities regulated by JACRA.

“This is just the beginning. We are hoping to continue rolling out further support in the coming months to the farmers. We will also be looking to provide some form of assistance to the other five commodities that we provide regulatory and developmental responsibilities for… and those are cocoa, pimento, nutmeg, turmeric and ginger.

“So we will [be] rolling out support for those commodities. We’ve already started… [and] we will continue to roll out support in the coming months,” Mr. Morgan stated.

He pointed out that while JACRA also regulates coconut, the Authority does not have a developmental role for it.

Mr. Morgan noted that additional ceremonies will be held to provide support for the other affected commodities.

Meanwhile, he urges farmers to remain vigilant against pests and diseases that may emerge in the aftermath of a storm, while reassuring them that JACRA will continue to provide support throughout this difficult period and beyond