Cut in fertiliser prices

Farmers are set to benefit from further relief in the cost of fertilisers.

Effective tomorrow, Newport-Fersan (Jamaica) Limited will cut the price of all granular fertilisers by 22 per cent.

This was announced by Minister of Agriculture Pearnel Charles Jr during his contribution to the Sectoral Debate in Parliament this afternoon.

He also announced that more technical support will be provided to farmers in the area of land preparation.

“We are committed to preparing the land and providing high-quality planting material for up to half an acre, whenever we can find farmers who put themselves in clusters across the island,” he said.

He continued: “As we speak about fertiliser we speak about feed and that support is going to allow for them to increase their fodder banks so we can provide local feed for our animals in Jamaica.”

Meanwhile, the agriculture minister announced that the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) is to undertake a $30 million pilot project for composting and organic fertiliser production on farms across the island.

Farmers will be trained and the fertiliser will be used on the pilot farms and will then be distributed to other farms as production increases.

The agriculture minister implored farmers to reach out to the ministry if they need support in terms of the application of pesticides and other agricultural inputs.

“We have seen some trends and I spoke to the farmers when I am on the ground and I have a concern in relation to that and we are gonna roll out a programme to make sure that the pesticides are being applied in the right way and that we can explore the use of more organics in Jamaica.”

- Christopher Serju