The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining will be embarking on a crop restoration and expansion programme for coffee and cocoa farmers. Portfolio Minister, Floyd Green, provided an update on the programme during the International Coffee and National Cocoa Day celebrations at Emancipation Park in St Andrew on October 1. “It means, we are going to be working with our farmers to innovate.
What we have recognised is that we need more of our farmers to do intercropping, to look at agroforestry, to look at other short-term cash crops that can bolster their earnings with what they are getting from coffee and cocoa,” he said. He added that the seeds and other inputs to support the undertaking will be provided to the farmers, noting that these will boost the income of farmers. Green said, too, that with the changing climate, more training will be undertaken with stakeholders in the sector.
“How we plant, the practises we use, we have to change that. So, we are going to be focusing a lot more on training our cocoa and coffee farmers through JACRA (Jamaica Agricultural Commodities Regulatory Authority), RADA (Rural Agricultural Development Authority), looking at best practises, pest management and climate adaptation strategies,” he noted. The Minister said the Government will be providing more direct support to farmers.
“We are going to provide you with more fertilisers and more chemicals. We are going to see how we can use the technology to treat with some of your lab.