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Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Floyd Green, says preliminary figures indicate that the agricultural sector grew by over 10 per cent during the first quarter of 2024.
He made the disclosure during Wednesday’s post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.
“That is a testament to the hard work, dedication and determination of our farmers; and that is why it is so critical that we have to respond, as our farmers have gone into a drought cycle that is really causing them tremendous challenges,” Green stated.
The Minister further informed that the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) team is presently out in the field assessing the impact of the drought on produce, especially vegetables.
“We do know [that] normally, when we have extended periods of drought, that the areas most impacted are our vegetable lines, especially our leafy vegetables. So we are out doing the assessment now. I would not [want to] give any figures yet. [But] I do expect that by next week, we will see what is happening,” Green said.
“Clearly, what we are trying to do in our drought mitigation exercise is to cauterise loss, to try and help the farmers save their crops; we do expect, nonetheless, some fallout. So by next week, we should have some figures and we will be able to tell,” he said.
Green added that he met with a greenhouse cluster to see how they can ramp up production during this time, to ensure that there are consistent supplies of vegetables.
– JIS News
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