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Home | Witter urges farmers to increase production to meet demand in the hospitality sector
Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Franklin Witter (right), speaking at the St. Ann Agri-Tourism Business Symposium held at the Seville Great House in Priory, St. Ann, on February 25, 2022. Organised by the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) under the theme ‘Exploring the Entrepreneurial Opportunities in the tourism and agricultural sector’, the symposium was aimed at inculcating an entrepreneurial mindset by bringing together agro-tourism business-minded individuals and stakeholders in the sectors.
Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Franklin Witter, has urged farmers in St. Ann to increase their productivity to meet the market demand for agricultural produce from the hospitality and tourism industries along with the export and agro-processing opportunities.
Witter noted that there are vast acreages of underutilized and unutilized parcels of land within the parish that can be used for agricultural production.
He was speaking at the St. Ann Agri-Tourism Business Symposium organised by the Rural Agricultural Development Authority and held at Seville Great House in St. Ann on Friday, February 25, 2022.
“The Agri-Tourism Business Symposium provides a much-needed medium to directly connect farmers, small and emerging business owners, and product developers to explore opportunities to operate at a more profitable level within the supply chain,” said Witter.
In addition to the products and services that were on display, presentations were made on sustainable agricultural systems, hydroponics and protected agriculture, product development, and mechanisation of local farms. The presentations were aimed at ensuring greater awareness of marketing structures, improved information sharing and increased productivity as it relates to the trading of agricultural produce and products.
The State Minister said that there are 25,353 registered farmers in the parish of St. Ann, contributing to over 1,500 hectares of domestic food crops and 45 acres of protected agriculture. This he attributed primarily to production by the farmers under the Ministry’s Production Incentive Programme (PIP), which is aimed at driving sustainable expansion of selected priority crops.
“To date, a total of $7.9M has been allocated to the parish for sweet and yellow yam, dasheen and hot pepper production,” Witter stated.
Other components of the PIP include the procurement of vegetable seeds, onion, Irish potato, pineapple suckers, as well as the renovation of greenhouses and drought mitigation assistance through water tanks and drip irrigation systems.
Sponsors of the symposium included the Tourism Enhancement Fund, CHUKKA, Jamaica National Heritage Trust, Bahia Principe Hotels & Resorts, the Social Development Commission, Agri Depot and JAMVAC.
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