Ministry of Agriculture
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Fruit Tree Crop Project Going Well in St. James
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MONTEGO BAY (JIS):
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
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The Ministry of Agriculture's, Fruit Tree Crop Project, is going well in St. James, with approximately 100 farmers involved in the initiative.
"So far, over 50 hectares of fruit trees such as avocado, otaheite apple, june plum, ackee, guava, mango, naseberry, soursop, among others have been established across the parish with more and more farmers coming on board," said Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) Parish Agricultural Officer for St. James, Wentworth Mitchell.
"This is another area of success in the parish with a new level of enthusiasm being demonstrated by our farmers. We have provided incentives for them in terms of fertilizer, planting material and weedicide. With such incentives being made available to assist the farmers in the programme and with the food shortage that we are seeing globally, farmers would want to make the best use of these opportunities," Mr. Mitchell stated.
In addition to ensuring food security, the RADA officer said that the project would go a far way in meeting the demand for fresh fruit juices. "We see much prospects and progress in this project and implore more farmers to come and make use of this opportunity to lift farming across the country," he urged.
Farmers interested in the project should visit the RADA office, where they could speak with an officer, fill out an application form, and an officer will visit the project area and advise as to the best selection of fruit trees.
"We encourage a mixture or a variety of fruit trees providing that the land space is available. In Jamaica, fruits are seasonal and when you are reaping mangoes, you don't necessarily reap june plum, so we would advise farmers that once they have the land space, to plant a wide range of these fruit trees, so you can have an on-going reaping and income consistently, which is what the farmer really needs at this time," Mr. Mitchell stated.
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