Article Archive

Statement on Frosty Pod
By Hon. Karl Samuda, CD, MP
Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries
Wednesday, December 13, 2017.

A number of measures have been taken since the confirmation of Frosty Pod Rot of Cocoa locally in August 2016.

The Plant Pest Emergency Response Team was activated. That team included representatives from the Plant Quarantine and Research and Development Divisions of the ministry, RADA, the Cocoa Industry Board (CIB), UWI and IICA.
A survey was done to assess the spread of the disease. The survey found that the...

Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries Minister, Hon. Karl Samuda has welcomed Jamaica Broilers Group’s investment in a new US$2 million pellet mill, which has been installed at the Group’s Best Dressed feed mill facility located in Freetown, Old Harbour.

The facility, which was commissioned into service on Thursday (December 14), will move the production of the Hi-Pro feeds from over 270 thousand tonnes to 350 thousand tonnes per year, making it one of the largest feed mills in the Caribbean.

The new mill will now allow Hi-Pro to meet growing consumer demand with a...

Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, the Hon. Karl Samuda, says that despite the impact of continual rainfall on the agriculture sector, Jamaican consumers should have adequate supplies of foodstuff for the Christmas season.

The agriculture Minister gave the assurance at a media briefing held Wednesday (December 13, 2017) at his Hope Gardens offices in St Andrew.

Bemoaning the decline in agricultural production and, in particular, the negative impact of the rains on the output of fresh vegetables, fruits, legumes and ground provisions, Minister Samuda...

Omar Sweeney (left), Managing Director of the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), assisted by the Hon J. C. Hutchinson (centre), Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, opens gate to the catchment pad at the Trenail District Water Supply System in St. Elizabeth on December 7, 2017. The facility was extended and rehabilitated along with the installation of a chain-link perimeter fence, construction of a chlorination system and sand filter and rehabilitation and extension of an 80,000 gallon tank by JSIF with a $23.79-m funding from the...

Hon J. C. Hutchinson (right), Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, reads plaque at the re-commissioning of the Trenail District Water Supply System in St. Elizabeth on December 7, 2017. Looking on are Omar Sweeney (centre), Managing Director of the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), and Victor Dunkley, president of the Trenail Citizens’ Association who was instrumental in lobbying for the upgrading of the facility.

Reiterating the importance of water to life, Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon J.C. Hutchinson, lauded the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) for its continued contribution to the development of rural communities. He was addressing residents at the re-commissioning of the recently upgraded Trenail District Water Supply System in St. Elizabeth on December 7, 2017.

The $23.79-m infrastructural upgrading project is one of several projects that have been handed over by JSIF in St. Elizabeth recently. These include a...

Hon Karl Samuda (right), Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, greets Fernando Cané, deputy head of mission of the Argentina Embassy in Jamaica, during a courtesy call at the Ministry’s Hope Gardens’ offices in Kingston on December 6.

Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, the Hon Karl Samuda (left), discusses possible areas of cooperation in agriculture with the Ambassador of Argentina to Jamaica, His Excellency Ariel Fernandez, during a courtesy call at the Ministry’s Hope Gardens’ offices in Kingston on December 6.