Ministry Of Agriculture Targets Less Affected Parishes In Short-term Recovery Plan
By: , November 22, 2025
Photo: Dave Reid
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green (second right); State Minister, Hon. Franklin Witter (second left) and St. Catherine North Eastern Member of Parliament, Hon. Kerensia Morrison (left), listen intently as poultry farmer, Maureen Simmonds, relays the extensive damage to her business from Hurricane Melissa. The officials visited Bonnet District, Guys Hill in St. Catherine on Thursday (November 20), to tour several farms in the community that were damaged during the storm, as part of the Ministry’s hurricane recovery plan. The tour culminated with a farmers’ meeting at the Guys Hill Town Hall, where farmers received irish potato seeds, fertilisers and vegetable seeds.
Photo: Dave Reid
A photo of a chicken coop belonging to poultry farmer, Maureen Simmonds, that was destroyed during the passage of Hurricane Melissa on October 28. Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green, viewed the damaged property on Thursday (November 20) during a field tour of farms in Bonnet District, Guys Hill, in St. Catherine, as part of the Ministry’s Hurricane Melissa recovery plan. He was joined by State Minister, Hon. Franklin Witter; St. Catherine North Eastern Member of Parliament, Hon. Kerensia Morrison; Councillor for the Guys Hill Division, Joseph Johnson, and Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) Chief Executive Officer, Garnet Edmondson. The tour culminated with a farmers’ meeting at the Guys Hill Town Hall, where farmers received irish potato seeds, fertilisers and vegetable seeds.
Photo: Dave Reid
St. Catherine North Eastern Member of Parliament, Hon. Kerensia Morrison (centre), leads Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green (right), and Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) Chief Executive Officer, Garnet Edmondson (left), on a tour of several farms that were damaged by Hurricane Melissa in Bonnet District, Guys Hill in St. Catherine, on Thursday (November 20). They are joined by (from left, second row) State Minister, Hon. Franklin Witter, and Councillor for the Guys Hill Division, Joseph Johnson. The tour formed part of the Ministry’s Hurricane Melissa recovery plan which culminated with a farmers’ meeting at the Guys Hill Town Hall, where farmers received irish potato seeds, fertilisers and vegetable seeds.
Photo: Dave Reid
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green (right), assesses a sweet potato seedling as farmer Collette Gordon (second right), removes weeds from her farm in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa. Also pictured are Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) Chief Executive Officer, Garnet Edmondson (second left), and St. Catherine North Eastern Member of Parliament, Hon. Kerensia Morrison. The officials stopped to speak with Ms. Gordon during a farm tour in Bonnet District, Guys Hill in St. Catherine, on Thursday (November 20), which formed part of the Ministry’s Hurricane Melissa recovery plan. The tour culminated with a farmers’ meeting at the Guys Hill Town Hall, where farmers received irish potato seeds, fertilisers and vegetable seeds.
Photo: Dave Reid
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green (left), hands out two 50-pound bags of irish potato seeds to farmers Keniesha Gordon (centre) and Newton Strachan (right) on Thursday (November 20), as part of the Ministry’s Hurricane Melissa recovery plan. The Ministry, through the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), also handed out fertilisers and vegetable seeds to farmers following a farmers’ meeting in Guys Hill, St. Catherine, which followed a tour of several farms in Bonnet District in the parish.The Full Story
As the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining gets ready to begin the post Hurricane Melissa recovery, Portfolio Minister, Hon. Floyd Green, says that a part of the short-term strategy is to focus on parishes that were not extensively affected by the category-five storm.
Speaking at a farmers’ meeting in Guys Hill, St. Catherine, on November 20, he said that the Ministry is targeting 1,000 hectares of land for vegetable and fruit production in St. Catherine, Portland, St. Thomas, Clarendon, sections of South Manchester, and North St. Ann.
Mr. Green also announced that the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) already has $40 million worth of seeds, with plans to procure additional seeds valued at $50 million for distribution across the country.
The meeting followed visits to several farms in Bonnet District in the parish, where the Minister viewed the extent of the hurricane damage.
He noted that in St. Catherine North Eastern, more than 49 hectares of land suffered damage, affecting 1,100 farmers.
“We’re going to be providing some of [the seeds] here today, because I know some of you are our vegetable farmers and we need to ramp back up our vegetable lines as quickly as possible,” Mr. Green told the scores of farmers who gathered in the Guys Hill Town Hall.
He added that the hurricane recovery plan will also extend to free land preparation for six months to farmers who use the RADA tractor service.
“In areas where you have a private tractor operator who is willing to work with RADA, what we will do is bring that private operator on board. We will pay for the service and provide that service to you free over the next six months. So, if you know people like that, have them reach out to RADA,” Minister Green encouraged.
He noted that for hilly terrain, approximately seven walk-behind small, motorised tractors will be provided by next week, adding that one has been earmarked for St. Catherine North East, which covers Guys Hill.
Minister Green highlighted the pressing need to ramp up production in the agricultural sector, noting that the World Bank has estimated the total loss of the sector at $60 billion.
He maintained that Jamaican farmers are resilient and will bounce back from the islandwide hurricane damage.
“Farmers, we have been through a lot. The last two years have probably been some of the most difficult two years for our farmers, because every time we start to see a recovery, something else happens. But the beauty with us is that nothing holds us back. Nothing stops us… . So, now is the time for us to expand. Now is the time for us to work together to drive the recovery,” Mr. Green said.
To start the recovery process in Guys Hill, the Ministry, through RADA, handed out 100 50-pound bags of irish potato seeds, 100 50-kilogram bags of fertiliser. as well as vegetable seeds.
The Minister also announced that RADA is working with Bodles Agricultural Research Station to provide 500,000 sweet potato slips, in addition to pumpkin seeds, cowpeas, MD2 pineapples and Scotch bonnet pepper seeds and seedlings free of cost to interested farmers.
“We will not allow Jamaican people to die of hunger. We are going to play our part, so we will give you the support, and farmers do what you do best – go out and farm again,” Minister Green urged.