Clive Bryan, Gleaner Writer
ST. CATHERINE:
A NATIONAL census of the goat and sheep stock on the island is now at an advanced stage of completion as the Ministry of Agriculture accelerates its drive to establish a data base on the small ruminant sector.
Data collection officers and statisticians attached to the ministry have been in the field since August of last year, conducting questionnaires and personal interviews to gather vital information on goat and sheep rearing in Jamaica.
The current census seeks to gather information from all goat and sheep farmers in Jamaica. Indications are that data collection has been completed in Westmoreland, Hanover, Trelawny, St. Ann, St. Mary, Portland and St. Thomas. The activity is nearing completion in St. Catherine, Clarendon, Manchester, St. Elizabeth and St. James.
The Corporate Area was the last zone in which data collection began. However, the census is expected to have been completed by the end of this financial year.
The current census confirms a need to establish the size of the small ruminants sector. This data is also required in keeping with the intention of the government to lend greater national support to the profitable development of goat rearing.
Last year, Agriculture Minister Roger Clarke pointed out that Government will be taking steps to increase the production of goat meat, since local production was only supplying approxi-mately 10-15 per cent of domestic demand.
"With the upgrading of our research capacity and improvement in the genetic stock through applied research, with farmer involvement, we are targeting a 30 per cent per annum increase in the short term," Mr. Clarke told Parliament during last year's budget debate.
