Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Franklin Witter (centre), engages with dairy farmer, Noel Arscott (right), during a recent tour of his farm in Rhymesbury, Clarendon. At left is Managing Director, Agro-Investment Corporation, Vivion Scully.
May 29 (JIS):
The Government will be making former sugar lands in Clarendon available to expand farming, including the cultivation of non-traditional crops.
Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Franklin Witter, made the disclosure while on a tour of farms in Rhymesbury in the parish earlier this month.
“This area was the old sugar area and we are seeing where persons are getting into non-traditional crops. We want to expand on that so that we can fully repurpose the agricultural sector in terms of utilising the areas that were once in cane production,” he said.
During the farm tour, officials from the Ministry, Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), and other key agencies engaged with several crop and cattle farmers and assessed the potential for agriculture diversification and growth within the region.
“We visited quite a few farms. We visited [one farmer], who is in the production of onions and we were quite impressed with what we see in terms of productive capacity,” said Mr. Witter.
He said that through the Agro-Investment Corporation (AIC), support will be extended to the farmer to acquire additional land to expand his onion cultivation.
“We see that he’s able to manage but we are going to give him some support in that area. He’s also in need of extra land to expand his production and we have available lands here so, through the AIC, we will be assisting him in getting at least another 20 acres for production,” added Mr. Witter.
As it relates to cattle production, the State Minister said: “We see areas of improvement in terms of developing feed for cattle in these areas. Land space for forage production is needed so we are going to be looking at that.”
The Government has authorised 106 fresh leases, covering approximately 1,590 acres of former sugar lands.
These lands are earmarked for crop cultivation across multiple parishes, including St. Catherine, Clarendon, St. Thomas, Trelawny, and Westmoreland.
