Senate Passes Bill to Modernise Agricultural Sector

A Bill seeking to modernise the agricultural sector to meet the nation’s growing demands of food security and productivity was passed in the Senate on October 6.

The Agricultural Loan Societies and Approved Organisations Act also facilitates the dissolution of the Agricultural Credit Board (ACB) and transfers the Board’s monitoring and regulatory functions to the Registrar of Co-operative and Friendly Societies.

Closing the debate in the Senate on October 6, Government Senator, Hon. Pearnel Charles Jr., said hundreds of thousands of farmers and their families will be impacted through the provision of more effective regulation and monitoring of important institutions.

He said these institutions will provide resources to the farmers, so they will be able to feed their families, the country and the world.

Government Senator, Dr. Saphire Longmore, said under the Act, farmers could benefit from numerous advantages, including self-ownership and democratic control, increased farming income, improved service, quality of supplies and products, assured sources of supplies, expanded markets, improved farm management, legislative support, local leadership development and increased farmer control of agriculture

She added that all these are important to the development of the country’s agricultural society.

“We are all cognisant of how beneficial developing our agricultural sector is to our country. This Bill will make it more significantly possible for Jamaicans to realise this dream of food security and agricultural productivity,” she said.

The Bill also provides for the establishment of the Agricultural Appeal Tribunal and for the registration and regulation of the agricultural loan societies by the Registrar of Co-operative Societies, and the certification of approved organisations by the Minister.