Some 841 Acres Of Cocoa In St. Mary Treated For Frosty Pod Rot
By: , January 23, 2020The Key Point:
Photo: Rudranath Fraser
Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Audley Shaw (left), plants an East Indian mango tree with the help of the Jamaica 4-H Clubs Kingston Girl of the year, Deja-Nai Grant (foreground, second left) and Food and Agriculture Representative to Jamaica, The Bahamas, and Belize, Dr. Crispim Moreira (foreground, right). Occasion was the launch of the International Year of Plant Health (IYPH) at Hope Gardens, St. Andrew on Wednesday (January 22). Looking on (in background from left) are Chief Plant Quarantine and Produce Inspector in the Ministry, Sanniel Wilson-Graham; Deputy Programme Manager, CARICOM Secretariat, Dr. Richard Blair; Chairman of the Caribbean Plant Health Directors Forum, Brian Crichlow; Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) Representative in Jamaica, Dionne Clarke-Harris; and Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) representative in Jamaica, Dr. Elizabeth Johnson.The Facts
- Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Audley Shaw, said that 288 farmers in the parish have benefited under the initiative.
- St. Mary produces the most cocoa in the island, with the finest flavour.
The Full Story
More than 841 acres of cocoa in St. Mary have been treated under the Frosty Pod Rot Management Programme.
Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Audley Shaw, said that 288 farmers in the parish have benefited under the initiative.
St. Mary produces the most cocoa in the island, with the finest flavour.
The Frosty Pod Rot Management Programme is part of government efforts to revive the cocoa industry and help affected farmers recover from the losses caused by frosty pod rot.
Minister Shaw, who was addressing the launch of the International Year of Plant Health (IYPH) at Hope Gardens on Wednesday (January 22), said that the programme has been reaping positive results.
“There has been an increase in production yields in areas where the management programme has been implemented,” he said.
The frosty pod disease, which has been plaguing cocoa farmers in recent years, is caused by a fungus, Moniliophthora roreri, which produces billions of spores that are easily spread by wind, water, or humans and can cause serious damage to the cocoa industry, reducing crop yield by up to 80 per cent per year.
In January 2018, the Government allocated $200 million to tackle the disease, with focus placed on cultural control, chemical control, public awareness, research and development, surveillance, and monitoring and evaluation.
Jamaica’s cocoa is one of eight recognised by the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) with 100 per cent exclusive ‘Fine Flavour’ status among cocoa-producing countries in the world.
Between 2004 and 2018, Jamaica’s cocoa production averaged approximately 368 tonnes annually. However, over the last five years, there has been an annual average of approximately 255 tonnes.