John Myers Jr., Staff Reporter
AGRICULTURAL INTERESTS are now moving swiftly to draft measures to prevent the demise of the island's cattle industry, which has declined by 50 per cent in the last 15 years, according to a study commissioned by the Jamaica Livestock Association (JLA).
The decline, the study noted, has resulted in a serious shortage in the availability of local beef to satisfy local demand. According to the study, the findings of which were presented on the first day of a three-day conference which started last Friday on the local cattle sector at the Breezes Runaway Bay Hotel in St. Ann, the current demand for local beef is two times the amount of available cattle.
NEGATIVE IMPACT
The decline of the sector had a negative impact on employment, especially in the rural areas with the loss of more than 13,000 jobs, which the consultants who carried out the study concluded, has led to an increase in poverty in rural areas. Information compiled from data received from the Ministry of Agriculture's data bank indicate that the number of cattle slaughtered annually between 1993 and 2004 fell by 38.4 per cent. The study also found that the dairy industry suffered a significant 66 per cent decrease in the amount of milk produced during the same period.
This decline has been attributed to a lack of adequate government policies to lower interest rates on loans, lower the cost of equipment, and protect local farmers from foreign imports. The reduction in beef consumption, high operating costs and low returns, limited use of new technologies and the problem of praedial larceny were listed as contributing factors.
NO CUSHION
"Government policy inter-ventions, at best, have been ineffective in providing a cushion in the face of massively subsidised imports," the study conducted by Jabico Investment and the Jamaica Dairy Development Board stated, adding that the massive increase in loan interest rates between 1992 and 1993 further served to prevent farmers from accessing affordable financing.
