Dr Chris Tufton, Contributor

Agriculture Minister Dr Christopher Tufton (left) listens intently as a St Catherine farmer in the Rural Economic Agriculture Pro-gramme explains his sweet pepper-growing techniques. - Contributed

These last weeks have been action-packed ones for us at the Ministry of Agriculture as we position ourselves to revive the sector.

Even as we prepared the annual Budget presentation and work behind the scenes to put projects and plans in place to enhance the sector, I had to take time out to visit some farmers in St Catherine. These men and women have been working hard, despite the challenges.

In addition to the training we secured five weeks ago for 10 of our agricultural extension officers, we began looking for ways to mitigate the pressures being faced by the sector.

We have put in place measures to address the hike in fertiliser prices and the problems arising from the fire which destroyed agricultural crops in St Elizabeth last month.

The greenhouse technology training being offered by the Costa Ricans has significant potential for our local sector and should promote investments in agriculture. The level of technology being adopted by the Costa Rican farmers to reduce operational costs and yields per acre was extremely impressive and will go a long way in preparing Jamaican farmers for the future.

minimising challenges

But, even as we continue to adopt new techniques and provide incentives for the farmers, the challenges of farming are always around the corner, ready to put the farmers at risk. I have no doubt that these new technologies will come in handy in minimising these risks and challenges as they offer more ways to improve and enhance production.

Many of the challenges we face, such as the recently announced 30 per cent hike in fertiliser prices by the sole manufacturer, Newport Fersan, reflect global market trends over which we have no control.

However, we were proactive in our response to the announcement and within hours, we had agreed on a strategy with Fersan to ensure that the production incentive announced by the Government in February would be maintained until the end of March.

As a result, the proposed price increase was rolled back and the appropriate subsidy provided by the Government was applied.

But these are only temporary measures as Government lacks the resources to maintain a subsidy on fertiliser in the long term.

A comprehensive sustainable programme must, therefore, be implemented to ensure cheaper sources of fertiliser and to encourage competition in the fertiliser market.

The training of farmers in the efficient use of fertiliser, as well as the use of organic manure, must also be at the top of our agenda.

In closing, I wish to express our appreciation to The Gleaner for affording us this opportunity to communicate to farmers and other stakeholders.

Dr Chris Tufton is the Minister of Agriculture. We would like to hear from you. Please email me at minister@moa.gov.jm or call 927-1731.