Agro-News - Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries

AGRONews will be published
on a quarterly basis and is
intended to be the premier source of
the Ministry’s activities and its
affi liate agencies, departments
and divisions. It is not intended to
replace existing communications
tools, but rather to complement
them. So see this as another source
of broadcasting our message to you,
our internal and external publics.
In each issue, we propose to have
major stories from the Ministry
and of course, articles from our
agencies/departments/units. Other
than these, AGRONews will carry
information about on-going and
AGRONews
Vol 01 Issue 1
Welcome to the first edition of AGRONews, the newest, creative and
most innovative means of keeping in touch with agricultural news
and happenings at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. The
newsletter, which communicates the policies and programmes of the Ministry,
was mandated by newly appointed Minister, Hon. Robert Montague, as yet
another means of keeping our various stakeholders in the know.
up-coming activities of the Ministry
and its critical partners/stakeholders.
The Ministry is excited about this
new project and hopes that it
gets better with your support.
We propose to make AGRONews
a dynamic medium to stimulate
discussion and therefore we
welcome your feedback by emailing
pr@moa.gov.jm, or by calling
927-1872.
Follow us on:
www.twitter.com/agriministryja
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I M P ROV E D
Food Safety Standards
Coming Early Next Year
As of early next year, the Ministry
of Agriculture and Fisheries is to
put new regulations in place, as it
moves to improve the safety and
standards of all food coming
into the country. Agriculture
Minister, Hon. Robert Montague,
says this is a result of Jamaica’s Food
Safety Policy, which was recently
approved by the Cabinet.
Speaking at the National World
Food Day ceremony (October
14), held at the Maggotty High
School in St. Elizabeth recently, Mr.
Montague said the new regulations
will require food processors to be
FIRST EDITION
registered.
He said their operations will have to be
inspected by the Ministry of Health, the
NOVEMBER 2011
Factories Corporation, Parish
Councils and the Bureau of
Standards. The Agriculture Minister
warned that Food Processors
failing to meet the required
standards will not be allowed to
operate. Meanwhile, he noted
that as part of eff orts to ensure
the safety of foods consumed by
Jamaicans, countries exporting
foods to Jamaica must also meet
standards set by national laws.
Gov’t to Start Massive
Tree Planting
The Agriculture Minister
announced that commencing
in January 2012, the Ministry
will be implementing a fruit tree
re-planting project, to coincide
with Jamaica’s 50th anniversary
celebration.
Planting for the future: Hon. R.
Montague plants a tree with Dr. Gillian
Smith, Assistant FAO Representative
to Jamaica, during National World
Food Day Oct. 14
“We are seeking to plant some
50,000 fruit trees across the
island, which will not
only achieve the goals
of re-forestation, import
substitution and export
potential, but also employment
possibilities,” he explained. He
said this project forms part of
a number of initiatives that
the government is putting
in place to guarantee food
security for the nation.
See page 2

Cont’d from page 1
Massive Tree
Planting...
World Food Day which
was observed globally on
October 16, was
celebrated under the
theme: ‘Food Prices- From
Crisis to Stability.’
New Agriculture
Minister Outlines
his Agenda
Agro-processing,
v a l u e - a d d e d ,
increased primary
production and resuscitating
traditional crops
are just a few of the
buzz words used by new
Agriculture and Fisheries
Minister, Hon. Robert
Montague to describe
his vision for the sector.
He readily admits that
for too long Agriculture
has been viewed as a welfare activity, which must come to
an end. “Agriculture is not a bad thing. It is an honourable
profession and can be a profitable industry,” he said, at his
first meeting with staff following his appointment in July,
on the lawn of the Ministry.
Vision for Agriculture
“Agriculture is a business
and people who are in
business are there
to make money,” Mr.
Montague said. We
have made significant
strides, but there is a lot
more that can be done
with the vast range of
nutritious food that we have. We have to tap into Agroprocessing
and value added production for the take
off of the sector. Minister Montague noted that women
must play an integral part in the revival of Agriculture.
“Women must be empowered to engage in Agriculture
as they have done in the past. They comprise about 80%
of our households and could engage in small scale farming
which no doubt would add tremendous value to the
sector.”
Page 2
RADA’s Extension Support
Meanwhile, turning his attention to the Rural
Agricultural Development Authority, (RADA),
Mr. Montague said the entity, which is mandated
to promote the development of Agriculture and
improve the quality of life of rural farm families, is
critical in leading the transformation in the sector.
Too often we hear our farmers complaining about
extension officers looking unkempt. “The Extension
Officers must not only look the part, but be able to give
the farmer correct and pertinent information that will
lead to increased yields.”
Minister Montague who represents a rural
farming constituency, Western St. Mary, and who himself
is a farmer, said he is well aware of the challenges
of the sector. He urged the gathering that rather than
focus on the problem, we must work together to find
solutions.
Mr. Montague, who was the former Minister with
responsibility for Local Government, was appointed
Agriculture and Fisheries Minister July 1. He took over
from former Agriculture and Fisheries Minister, Dr. the
Honourable Christopher Tufton, who was at the helm
for three and half years.
Get your copy of the
Ministry of Agriculture &
Fisheries 9 Point Plan today!
The 9 Point Plan is a
first step in
addressing some of
the problems in the
Agricultural sector
in the short to
medium term.
Areas covered
in the
brochure are:
Project Land;
Lowered Interest
Rates;
Boosting Pig
Production;
RADA’s New Deal;
Available at RADA & the Ministry’s
Communication & Public Relations Unit
Praedial Larceny;
and so much more!

IT’S A DEAL- Sugar Contract
Between Jamaica and China
Signed
After more than a
year of negotiations,
the Government
of Jamaica and
COMPLANT International
of China, inked a deal
signalling the completion
of the divestment of
the remaning sugar
assets to the Chinese
company for US$9 million.
At the historic event on
August 15, 2011 at the
Banquet Hall of Jamaica
House, Prime Minister,
the Hon. Bruce Golding
signed the Contract of
Agreement with Mr. Tang
Jianguo, Chief Executive
Officer of the COMPLANT
International. The signing
was witnessed by the
Hon. Robert Montague,
Minister of Agriculture; as
well as former Minister of
Agriculture, now Minister
of Industry, Investment
and Commerce, Dr. the
Hon. Christopher Tufton;
the Chinese Ambassador,
Cane crop beign chissled
The final signatures being affixed to the deal transferring ownership of the country’s
sugar assets to COMPLANT International.
Quing Zheng and officials
from the COMPLANT International.
Montague says
divestment is a
historic day
Minister Montague in his
welcome address said that
it was a historic day for the
Government and warmly
welcomed COMPLANT to
the Agricultural scene in
Jamaica, noting his
anticipation of even
further investment.
Page 3
Before the official
signing, COMPLANT CEO
Tang, said through his
interpreter, that during
the past year since talks
had begun, COMPLANT
had fulfilled all the
requirements of the
Sugar Company of
Jamaica. Expressing his
sincere gratitude to the
Prime Minister and the
Jamaican Government
on a whole, he hoped,
he said, that he would
get the continued
support of the Jamaican
Government in promot-
ing the Sugar Industry.
Prime Minister
says industry
needs radical
transformation
”Stating that the
industry needs to
transform radically in
order to turn around
its flagging performance
of the last 40
years, Prime Minister
Golding urged stakeholders
to adopt the
Chinese culture of hard
work while promising that
the Jamaican tradition of
collective bargaining for
workers is maintained.
“I welcome the
introduction of the
Chinese culture into our
production process,”
Golding stated. “There is
going to be a culture
change. Some of the
Cont’d on page 4

Cont’d from page 3
Sugar...
practices of the past are
going to have to go.”
Meanwhile, the Prime
Minister noted that the
Government had been
careful to ensure that
the critical assets of
Jamaica are protected.
The assets which had been
sold were confined to the
Driven by a need to
transfer improved and
adoptable technologies
to farmers in a modern
agricultural industry,
the Rural Agricultural
Development Authority
(RADA) has over the
last decade sought
and continues to
automate its operations
to satisfy the delivery
of Extension Services.
Al Powell, the Chief
Executive Officer of RADA,
says its mandate is to
promote the develop-
factories themselves, and
the lands immediately
around them, while other
sugar lands had been leased
to COMPLANT for a period
of 49 years. COMPLANT is to
invest US$150 million in the
industry.
China National Complete
Plant Export Corporation,
COMPLANT for short, was
founded in 1959 and has its
headquarters in Beijing. In
the past four decades
COMPLANT has established
good business
relations with government,
companies and
various organisations
in more than 100 countries
in turn-key projects
in areas of railway, high
way, agriculture, telecommunications,
textile,
electronics, paper making
and metallurgy.
RADA Automates for the 21 st Century
ment of Agriculture in
Jamaica, as the main
engine of economic
growth in rural communities,
through an efficient,
modern and sustainable
extension service to
enhance the national
economy and improve
the quality of life of
rural farm families. Mr.
Powell believes that tapping
into the use of Information
and Communication
Technologies (ICTs) is one
of the primary tools to
effectively carry out this
mandate into the 21st
century, and to attract
more youth to the sector.
ABIS Changing the
Face of Agriculture
“Over the last three years,
there has been greater
emphasis on the use of ICT
through the purchasing
of equipment to support
increased extension staff
activities. Work continues
on our flagship programme,
the Agricultural Business
Information System, (ABIS),
which has transformed the
management of agricultural
information by encouraging
a more business-like-
Page 4
approach to Agriculture.”
ABIS is a database
of farmers
and other stakeholders,
for crops and livestock,
farm practices and a
repository of technical
information. As the national
farmer register,
it has close to 150,000
farmers registered to
date.
RADA Computer
Programme
Mr. Powell says the computer
programme is part
of every component of
RADA’s operations as it
embraces the challenges
and growing
demands of providing
Extension Services. “Our
Extension Officers are
now using laptop/notebook
computers and
multimedia technologies
to transfer technical
information to farmers”.
He notes that by using
the technology, this has
resulted in an increase
of in-field data collection
capabilities. “Officers
are now equipped
with digital cameras,
Global Positioning Sys-
The Atlantic Hurricane
Season is from June 1
to
November 30, we are
still in the season...
SO BE ON THE
ALERT!
Harbour View Bridge
tems, (GPS) units, and soil
testing metres. This has
enabled our officers to
capture, communicate,
diagnose and remedy
agricultural related
problems in a timelier
manner,” the RADA boss
said.
Text and Toll Free
Number
Since 2010, RADA has
been communicating
with farmers using text
messaging, which Mr.
Powell says is to relay
important alerts and
bulletins to farmers’
cellular phone. “Over
75% of the farmers in the
ABIS national farmers’
data-base have telephone
contact numbers.
Approximately 80,000
text messages have been
sent to these farmers
Cont’d on page 5

Cont’d from page 4
RADA Automates...
informing them of
important developments
in the agricultural sector
as well as adverse weather
conditions, pest and
disease outbreaks” he said.
Mr. Powell noted however,
the RADA is mindful
of the challenges that some
farmers may have in
using text messages and
discussions are now
underway with the phone
providers to provide voice
It is a known fact that
Caribbean women are
strong, powerful and capable
of taking care of themselves and
their families, and are always
ready to meet the challenges of
survival. The absence of some
men in the homes of a large
number of rural households has
forced women to seek ways and
means of earning an income to
maintain themselves and their
families. Farming the land is an
important means for
survival in rural communities. It
is therefore not coincidental that
large numbers of women work
along the entire agricultural
value chain, and make significant contributions to family
income and economic wellbeing. This is in addition to
their traditional reproductive /domestic responsibilities.
Women as Farmers
RADA, under its farmer registration programme, has to
date registered 144,685 farmers, cultivating on 259,358
ha of land. Of these, 43,808 or 30% are women farmers,
most being within the age group 35-54. A further look at
the data reveals that the average plot size cultivated by
women is 1.4 ha in comparison to an average of 2.6 ha
cultivated by male farmers.
Women as Agricultural Labourers
In addition to those women who have access to land on
which they do their own cultivation; there are even a
larger number of women who do not have such access, but
who work as labourers on plots or larger farms belonging
to others, doing task work like sowing seeds, applying
fertilizer, weeding, reaping, cleaning and packaging crops
etc. These women are often times, heads of households,
messages to augment
training and communication
with farmers.
RADA also has a toll free
number - 1-888-RADA
(1-888-275-7232), that
provides farmers with
direct access to its
Women
technical specialist,
improved problem
resolution and a more
responsive feedback
mechanism. Call them
today!
For further information
visit: www.rada.gov.jm
The Role of Rural
in Agricultural Development
Page 5
single parents or sole bread
winners for their families.
Women in Backyard
Gardening
The contribution being made by
women in producing food in their
backyards or in containers cannot
be overlooked as they too are
contributing in a significant way
to securing food for their families
and friends alike. Under RADA’s
intervention of this programme
and the ‘Eat What We Grow,
Grow What We Eat’ campaign, a
large number of urban and rural
women and youth have
expressed a renewed interest and
pride in the development of their gardens in producing
food at their household level. In 2009 / 2010 RADA
established across the island 167 gardens and under a
special programme funded by FAO / EC 2500 gardens
kits were distributed this year to householders. Of
course there are other social benefits to be gained from
such an activity.
Women in Marketing
Women are involved in a big way in the marketing of
Agricultural crops (whether produced by them,
purchased from others or produced by their spouses)
most times travelling from rural areas to the urban
municipal markets, spending from 1-3 days before
returning to their communities. With regard to the
small traders (higglers) women make up 80-90% of the
total number of persons in that sub-sector. At the more
sophisticated level, that of exporters, again women
are very active and make up 50% of the traders. There
are also those women who travel from urban areas to
purchase directly from farmers and resell to various
Cont’d on page 6

Cont’d from page 5
Women in
Agriculture...
markets including overseas.
Women are also involved in
the marketing of value-added
products manufactured from
our primary produce.
Women in Agro-
Processing
Agro-processing activities by
rural women are becoming
more and more popular and are
being encouraged by the RADA
and other developmental
partners like the Jamaica
Agricultural Society, (JAS),
Jamaica 4-H Clubs, Scientific Research Council (SRC), the
Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC), the
Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), also regional and
international organizations such as the Inter-American
Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) , Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO), European Union
(EU), and others. Women engaged in agro-processing
or value addition, do so at different levels; from cottage
industry to micro, small and medium size businesses.
There are large numbers also who are employed as casual
labourers in manufacturing establishments in rural
areas.
Women in Agriculture Related
Professions
Agricultural Development can not take place
without the professionals, who set policies, develop
strategies and programmes and projects to ensure
that the nation’s food situation is secure and that all its
population have sustained access to enough of the
right combination of foods at an affordable cost. These
professionals include policy makers, Extension Officers,
Agricultural teachers in schools, researchers,
Food Technologists and a host of others. In these
areas too, rural women occupy prominent positions and
therefore play an important role in Agricultural Development.
Increasingly more and more women are venturing
into what were once male-dominated disciplines and
Agriculture is no different. In fact, one just have to
Page 6
examine the records of
Agricultural institutions such
as the College of Agriculture
Science and Education (CASE),
Ebony Park, and others,
where the number of females
entering and leaving the
institutions, each year, are as
many, and in some cases more
than the number of males.
Women Farmers Work
Harder?
Rural Women devote much of
their time to daily domestic
tasks, including family care and
household chores. They also
devote a considerable amount
of time to crop and livestock
production on the farm and to
marketing these products. They maintain household
gardens, and prepare a number of other food and nonfood
items for sale or home consumption. These activities
contribute directly to family income. According to
the FAO, some studies have shown that when women
farmers have access to resources they are more
productive than men farmers. It is therefore important
that rural women be allowed sufficient access to
Agricultural resources, e.g. land, membership in
rural organizations, credit, Agricultural inputs and
technology, training and extension and marketing
services.
The Ministry of Agriculture, through its extension
arm RADA, appreciates the important contribution of
rural women to Agriculture and Rural Development
and has for a number of years, integrated gender
considerations into its extension service delivery.
The Social Services/Home Economics Unit, an
important part of the extension delivery
system in RADA has over its 21 years of existence,
worked with rural women in implementing various
programmes and projects aimed at improving the
quality of life of farm families through the development
of skills in home-making activities, agro-processing of
value-added produce from the field, encouraging
healthy lifestyles, promoting entrepreneurship and
broadening the income base of the farm families.

Behind the Scenes...
Under Control: The Hon. Robert Montague (R)
discusses areas for technical cooperation with Deputy
Prime Minister of Israel, Mr. Dan Meridor forllowing a
courtesy call recently.
Taste of Jamaica: His Excellency Antonio
Francisco da Costa e Silva Neto, Ambassador of
Brazil (R) examines his gift of assorted coffee
products presented to him by Agriculture Minister,
Hon. Robert Montague following a courtesy call at
the Ministry recently.
Ambassador Marco Mazzocchi Alemanni, Head of the
Delegation of the European Union (EU) engages
Agriculture & Fisheries Minister Robert Montague in an
animated discussion during a courtesy call on the
Minister.
Minister Montague listens intently to His Excellency
Josef Beck, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of
Germany following discussion on how the German
Government can assist Jamaica in the area of renewable
energy. The Ambassador made a courtesy call on the
Minister recently.
Behind the Scenes...
Page 7

The Buzz in Agriculture
Food Security
There has been much talk in recent times about
the need for Jamaica and other developing
countries to become food secure, but what
exactly does this term mean and is this achievable?
The World Food Summit of 1996 defi ned food security
as existing “when all people at all times have access to
suffi cient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and
active life.” Commonly, the concept of food security is
defi ned as including both physical and economic access
to food that meets people’s dietary needs as well as their
food preferences. In many countries, health problems
related to dietary excess are an ever increasing threat.
In fact, malnutrition and foodborne diarrhoea have
become double burden.
Food security is built on three pillars:
• Food availability: suffi cient quantities of
food available on a consistent basis;
• Food access: having suffi cient resources to
obtain appropriate foods for a nutritious
diet; and
• Food use: appropriate use based on
knowledge of basic nutrition and care, as
well as adequate water and sanitation.
Food security is a complex sustainable development
issue, linked to health through malnutrition, but also
to sustainable economic development, environment,
Did You Know?
Minister of Agriculture and
Fisheries, the Hon. Robert
Montague attended the College of
Agriculture Science and Education
(CASE) January 13, 1983 to
December 19, 1985.
Contact: Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries
Hope Gardens, Kingston 6
Tel: (876) 927-1731-50 Fax: (876) 927-1904
Email:pr@moa.gov.jm
© 2011 by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Jamaica
Designed and produced by the Communication & Public Relations Unit
Page 8
and trade. There is a great deal of debate around food
security with some arguing that:
• There is enough food in the world to feed
everyone adequately; the problem is
distribution;
• Future food needs can - or cannot - be met
by current levels of production;
• National food security is paramount - or
no longer necessary because of global
trade; and
• Globalization may - or may not - lead to the
persistence of food insecurity and poverty
in rural communities.
Agriculture remains the largest employment
sector in most developing countries and international
agriculture agreements are crucial to a country’s food
security. Some critics argue that trade liberalization
may reduce a country’s food security by reducing
Agricultural employment levels. Concern about this
has led a group of World Trade Organization (WTO)
member states to recommend that current
negotiations on agricultural agreements allow
developing countries to re-evaluate and raise tariff s
on key products to protect national food security and
employment.
Source: World Health Organisation
Retrieved from: http:www.who.int/trade/glossary/story028/en
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