The island's cocoa farmers are to get a 100 per cent price increase for raw cocoa as the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands moves to boost production to meet demand.
This was announced by Agriculture and Lands Minister Roger Clarke, who was speaking at the opening ceremony of the annual Denbigh Agricultural and Industrial Show in May Pen, Clarendon yesterday.
"Farmers will now get a $1,000 per box for their cocoa instead of the $500 they used to get in the past," he announced. "So that is a reason for them move forward."
Rehabilitate farms
In responding quickly to the Minister's announcement, Naburn Nelson, secretary manager of the Cocoa Industry Board, said the price increase will serve as a catalyst for farmers to rehabilitate their farms to meet the market demand. According to Mr. Nelson, there is a market for about 200,000 tonnes of cocoa annually, but production now averages about a quarter of that amount.
Mr. Nelson explained that the price increase came after a three month survey conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands and the Cocoa Industry Board to assess the needs of the industry. He added: "The fact that the farmers have been hit by these three devastating hurricanes they needed something to rekindle the interest they had or to remotivate them and as the Minister said, he has taken the decision to move the price and improve on the service that the farmers have been getting."
Impressive growth
Also in his address to officially declare the opening of the three-day agricultural and industrial show, Mr. Clarke pointed out that the agricultural sector continues to record impressive growth as the sector grew more than 30 per cent in the second quarter of the year. This is in addition to the 24 per cent growth recorded in the first quarter of the year.
"Agriculture is now on the rebound," he declared. "It has been the main contributor to the growth of the economy this year and we are only hoping that God will spare us some of those disasters this year and they will see what the farmers of Jamaica can do."
