Government Commits to Increasing Support for the Agriculture Sector

• Government support for agriculture will be strengthened this year to boost productivity and enhance the sector’s contribution to gross domestic product (GDP). Agriculture currently contributes about 8.3% of GDP, and the aim is to get to the 9.0% mark, said Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining Minister, Hon. Floyd Green.
• “I believe that this will be an exceptional year for agriculture and for our farmers. This financial year, we provided about $1Bn in production incentive and $800 million to our farm road programme. We will be advocating for more, especially for farm roads. We want to bring that farm road programme to over $1Bn this year and to continue our production incentive programme”, he said.
• He noted that works on irrigation systems in Parnassus in Clarendon and Amity Hall in St. Catherine are targeted for completion this year, which will assist in increasing the sector’s output.
• Minister Green also noted that 2023 was a challenging year for the agricultural sector, citing the prolonged droughts with excessively high temperatures, followed by severe flooding in some sections of the island, all of which led to a decline in production.
• He expressed optimism for the outlook of the sector, noting that the crafting of critical agricultural programmes and projects will assist in creating a more resilient industry that is better able to manage the vagaries of climate change.

(Source: JIS)