Clarke
THE MINISTRY of Agriculture, through the Agricultural Support Services Project (ASSP), has provided US$414,548.00 (J$15.6 million) to assist farmers in the Springfield Growers' Association, Morant Bay, St. Thomas, in an effort to boost production of domestic crops for local and export markets.
The group began production in November 2004 and has so far produced more than 12,000
lb of
vegetables, including cabbage, tomato, carrot, sweet pepper and sweet corn.
Speaking at the official launch of the Springfield project last week, Agriculture Minister Roger Clarke pointed out that the assistance being given to the farmers was important in light of the country spending some $380 million on the importation of food between January and September 2004.
"This project has tremendous potential for import substitution, given the group's production capacity and the superior quality of the crops," Minister Clarke said.
The Ministry of Agriculture has provided some $190,000 worth of assistance to farmers' groups islandwide under the ASSP's Productive Projects Fund since its
inception in 2002.
