Agro-park to be established in Portland

Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Reginald Budhan (right) views FHIA banana plants on display at the College of Agriculture, Science and Education’s (CASE) booth, along with (from left) Councillor Wayne McKenzie, Mayor of Port Antonio; Dr. Derrick Deslandes, President of CASE; and Dr. Jerome Thomas, Food and Agriculture Organization Representative for Jamaica, The Bahamas and Belize. The occasion was the national ceremony and exhibition organised by the Ministry in celebration of World Food Day, which was held on October 14 in Portland.

Plans are far advanced for the establishment of Portland’s first agro-park at Spring Garden.
The announcement was made by Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Reginald Budhan, at the World Food Day National Ceremony and Exhibition held at the College of Agriculture, Science and Education, Passley Gardens, Portland on October 14.
Mr Budhan said the new agro-park would focus on the production of bananas, plantains, sweet potato and peppers for the local and export markets.
Celebrated this year under the theme: ‘Climate is changing; food and agriculture must too’, World Food Day is held annually in over 150 countries. It is aimed at promoting awareness of those who suffer from hunger and the need to put in place strategies that will ensure food security.
Noting that climate change poses a threat to Jamaica achieving food security, with about 25% of the negative economic impacts from climate-related disasters in developing countries being borne by the crop, livestock, fisheries and forestry sector, Mr Budhan outlined several initiatives being undertaken by the Government, in collaboration with other stakeholders, to increase the sector’s climate resilience.
Among these initiatives are the provision of 2,700 small grants to small farmers to assist in the production of approximately 1,000 hectares of crops and generating over $1.2B of farm income, as well as the installation of 14 water harvesting, small-scale irrigation and productivity schemes.
In addition, seven irrigation and productivity schemes are to come on stream shortly.
“Sustained agricultural growth can only be achieved if there is significant transformation of the sector to include wide-scale expansion of irrigation,” Mr Budhan said. This, he continued, should include a more coordinated and structured approach to the sector to include value addition. He said the Government was pursuing the expansion of irrigation systems, especially on the southern belt, with the expansion of the agro-parks, and the associated value-chain development.
Other initiatives aimed at implementing best practices and promotion of climate-smart agriculture outlined by the permanent secretary, included provision of 100 small grants to small farmers to establish land husbandry infrastructure on their farm holdings to help prevent soil erosion, and training in climate-smart agricultural best practices, using the farmer-field-School methodology.
In an effort to support year-round production, over 240 small famers have also received support with small-scale on-farm drip irrigation systems.

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