Ministry of Information, Culture, Youth & Sports

		PRINT THIS			SEND TO A FRIEND

Jamaicans are being encouraged to plant fruit trees for Labour Day on May 23.

Approximately 35,000 fruit tree seedlings including ackee, jackfruit, lychee, mango, naseberry, pomegranate, dwarf june plum, otaheite apple, cherry, custard apple, sweet sop, guinep, star apple and guava, will be distributed free of cost to all persons interested.

Interim Executive Director of the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), Al Powell, told JIS News that the seedlings will be distributed on a first come, first serve basis.

"We are distributing between 30,000 and 35,000 seedlings. Out of that, each Member of Parliament is selecting three preferred schools in their area and we will offer five seedlings per school and the rest of the seedlings will be distributed through the RADA office and community groups, the Social Development Commission (SDC), and so on," he said.

The tree-planting initiative is in keeping with the Labour Day theme: 'Eat what we grow, Grow what we eat', as a means of securing Jamaica's food supply. "The work we are going to be putting into Labour Day this year, is planting something, planting trees, planting fruit trees, planting vegetables," Mr. Powell noted.

He informed that RADA will be "driving the process" in ensuring that the seedlings are collected from the nurseries and that they are delivered to the distributors "in a healthy state."

"We are expecting that four (or) five days before Labour Day, the seeds will be delivered. We have started the process and expect to complete the process by next week Wednesday (May 21)," Mr. Powell told JIS News.

The Director said the response from the public has been overwhelming and that he too, is excited about the project. "I am excited about the programme.because everybody seems to be interested. We have had so many calls here between RADA and the Ministry (of Agriculture)," he said.

"When a householder hears that he/she can plant dwarf trees and reap them within a timeframe of maybe 15, 18 months and so on, june plum for example, they are excited. They are excited because it's free; they are excited because they understand the importance of having a tree in your backyard, and the juice you can make from it and so on. So the response is overwhelming.we are concerned now that the demand is going to be greater than the supply," Mr. Powell said.

As a special request, he informed that 1,500 packets of seeds will be distributed to members of the Boulevard Baptist Church in Kingston on Sunday (May 18) starting at 9:00 am.

"Various groups of the society are calling for packets of seeds or seedlings. The response is very great," the Director added.

		PRINT THIS			SEND TO A FRIEND