Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green, speaking at a media briefing yesterday (August 27) at the Ministry's offices in St Andrew.
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green, said the agriculture sector experienced tremendous growth in the second quarter of 2024.
Minister Green, who was speaking at a media briefing on Tuesday, August 27 held at the Ministry's offices in St Andrew, underscored the importance of reflecting on the sector’s position before Hurricane Beryl.
“I think a number of us know that last year we had a challenging year where we suffered our driest period ever in the history of the country and went through a prolonged drought, but our farmers really worked hard to ensure that by the end of the year, we were on a positive trajectory in relation to our growth numbers,” he highlighted.
The agriculture minister in providing the growth numbers for the second quarter of 2024, said the growth numbers were carried over from the last quarter of 2023 which continued through to the second quarter of 2024, which he says is an indication of continued growth for the sector.
“During the period of April to June 2024, total production amounted to 204,000 tonnes, representing a 5.0% increase compared to the 194,000 tonnes harvested in the corresponding quarter of 2023 and I think we should give our farmers a big round of applause for that,” Green outlined.
Minister Green continued to emphasise that alongside the growth numbers, there was an increase in productivity as farmers were maximizing the hectares they had under production.
“We saw tremendous growth in areas like our plantains, we saw 12% growth; cereals 12% growth; our legumes 11% growth; tubers 11% growth, hot peppers which performed exceptionally well in that quarter, saw a 15% growth, and that is directly related to the some of the work that is happening through our Production and Productivity Programme run by the Rural Agricultural Development Authority,” he said.
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