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Minister Clarke served as
State Minister for Agriculture in1992 for three years and in 1998
was appointed full Minister. Heserved as Minister forAgriculture
for a decade before the 2007 Gen-eral Elections.
An upbeat Clarke said his vi-sion is to enhance the countrys
food security, promote rural de-velopment and create the environ-
ment to generate wealth for thenations farmers.
Another area of focus for thenew Minister will be to stimulate
production within the coffee in-
dustry as well as taking a seriouslook at the banana and cocoa pro-
ducing sectors."It cannot be that we are im-
porting bananas into the countryat this point in time, so we have to
find a way to deal with that.Cocoa production, the possibili-
ties are endless in terms of de-mand and price, so we will be
concentrating our efforts on re-suscitating our cocoa production
in the country," Clarke said.Efforts will also be made to
improve the marketing of domes-tic produce through revision of
the Agricultural Business Infor-mation System (ABIS), which is
operated by the Rural AgriculturalDevelopment Authority (RADA).
Clarke said that increasingthe number of RADA extension
officers and the quality of service
they provide to farmers would be
on the front burner, and a reviewof RADA would be done.
Member of Parliament forWestern Hanover Ian Hayles was
appointed State Minister in theMinistry.
He was born in George'sPlain in Central Westmoreland.
Hayle later moved to Sir Alexan-der Bustamante's birth district,
Blenheim in Hanover, and then toCave Hill, also in the parish,
where he spent his early-child-hood days before migrating to the
United States at age 13. While inthe United States, Hayles read for
a bachelor's degree in business ad-ministration before returning to
Jamaica in 2000.
In 2007, at age 35, Hayle was
first elected MP for WesternHanover representing the Peoples
National Party. He was one of theyoungest MPs in Gordon House at
the time.Hayle is also a founding
member of Generation 2000, an
affiliate of the opposition JamaicaLabour Party which he later re-
signed to join the PNP.
Mavis Bank
to pay 6,000
Coffee farmers
Since Monday (February20) $50M is being dis-bursed to 6,000 Jamaica
Blue Mountain Coffee Farmers.Mavis Bank Coffee Factory,
Managing Director, Senator Nor-
man Grant, said the company has
declared a final price of $3,091
per box of coffee supplied by thefarmers.
This is 20 percent higher than
w hat w as pai d dur ing t he
2 01 0/2 011 c ro p: F or t he
2011/2012 crop the company,
which was recently acquired by
the Jamaica Producers Group and
Pan Jamaica Investment Trust
Limited, was the largest processor
and exporter of Jamaica Blue
Mountain Coffee.
---------------------------------------
Drought hitsfamers hard
Adry spell in severalparishes is causing con-
cern for farmers.Four other par is hes,
Hanover, Westmoreland, Man-chester and St. Thomas are expe-
riencing what the met officedescribes as a severe drought.
The met service says a sig-nificant deficit in rainfall has leftfive parishes facing extreme orsevere drought conditions.
Data from the met servicereveals that Clarendon and StElizabeth are experiencing ex-treme drought conditions.
Based on the data St. Eliza-beth is one of the parishes gettingthe most rain, but the farmers saythey have not seen the evidence.
Those in the bread basketparish say they have lost thou-
sands of dollars because of thelack of water.
Clarke is Back
ROGER CLARKEMinister of Agriculture and Fisheries
IAN HAYLESState Minister for
Agriculture and Fisheries
By The Agriculturalist Reporters
Veteran politician and farmer Roger Clarke was re-appointed Agriculture and Fisheries Minister (Jan-uary 6) by Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller,
following the December 29 General Elections, and after
shadowing that portfolio since 2007.
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EDITORIAL PAGE
After serving nine years as Minister ofAgriculture and Fisheries in the pre-vious PNP administration, Roger Clarke,Member of Parliament for Central West-
moreland was on January 6, 2012, reap-
pointed to the same post following his
party victory in the December 29, 2011general elections.
Clarke is on his way to become Ja-
maicas longest serving Minister of Agri-
culture and with the young and vibrant IanHayle as his State Minister, I am confident
they will work hard for the farmers.Since independence, Jamaican agri-
culture has been on a declining trend with
total hectare in farming estimated at325,810, according to the 2007 agricultural
census. Food imports is now over $800
millions, farm roads in deplorable condi-tions, no reliable farm markets and prae-
dial larceny are among the challengesfacing farmers.
However, despite their best intentions
and plans to turn-around the farming sec-tor, Clarke and Hayle must get the support
of the Prime Minister and entire Cabinet to
position agriculture as a viable business
option.The government must be committed to
a number of policies including signifi-
cantly increasing the budgetary allocation
to the Ministry to cover more than the basicexpenses such as staffing, equipment andsupplies.
The Government of Jamaica spent
several million dollars annually to promoteour tourism product overseas and hires sev-
eral persons in the international market
place, yet find it difficult to employ an in-dividual to market Jamaican agricultural
export.We must reform our tax system to en-
sure more incentives to farmers. We can-
not be asking farmers to pay upfront GCTon farm tools and equipment then claim for
the refund. Such policy is affecting thefarmers cash flow as crop/livestock take
time to reach the market before any income
is realized.Clarke will have to forge a serious
working partnership with the private sec-tor and non-government organizations. The
talk should not only be confined to the
leadership of the Jamaica Agricultural So-ciety but other farmers group. We want a
ministry of agriculture to understand theneeds of farmers and work towards satis-
fying those desires.
Now is the time to try new strategies
as several policies and programmes putforward by both administrations (PNP andJLP) over the past decades have failed to
significantly grow local production.Minister Clarke is also being urged to
embrace new technologies in agriculture
and target the new generation of youngfarmers and agriculturalists who are trained
and ready to explore the opportunities inlocal farming.
With adequate resources, government
support and the cooperation of farmers,
this should be Minister Clarke best term inoffice.
byPATRICK MAITLAND
Publisher -The Agriculturalist
The opinionsexpressed in this newspaper, except for the above, do not necessarilyreflectthe views of The Agriculturalist and its publishers. Please sendyour comments or suggestions
to [email protected]. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all articles will be published.
Editorial comment
http://agritrade.cta.int
Poultry production and marketing
are among the top agro-indus-
tries in the Caribbean, not only
in terms of their economic value but
also in terms of the level of sophistica-tion and integration.
Given the highly competitive nature
of poultry products marketed from
Brazil and the USA, and the fact that
any contraction in the industry would
create substantial socio-economic
hardship, protection has been a feature
of the Caribbean trade regime for some
time.
It is against this background that
Caribbean Poultry Association (CPA)
members are arguing for a more active
and harmonised poultry trade policy in
the Caribbean, aimed at both address-
ing supply-side constraints on compet-itiveness and replicating the types of
trade policy tools used extensively
elsewhere (ranging from import re-
strictions and outright import bans in
Russia,
China and Zimbabwe, through im-
port quotas in Korea and TRQs in the
EU and import licensing in Ukraine, to
price controls in Thailand and
Malaysia).
The CPA have long objected to pro-
posed tax reforms in countries such as
Jamaica which would reduce the
CARICOM CET on poultry products
from 40% to 20%, maintaining that this
would be tantamount to agreeing to the
dismantling of the Caribbean poultry
industry. In addition to maintaining the40% tariff and other supplementary du-
ties and charges, the CPA is reported to
be calling for a range of more active
measures, including:
the active use of safeguard mecha-
nisms linked to import licensing
arrangements;
a prohibition on frozen products
being thawed and sold as fresh chilled
products;
the introduction of country of origin
labelling;
the prohibition of repackaging of im-
ported frozen poultry parts; and
the harmonisation and strengthening
of Caribbean SPS regulatory systems
dealing with poultry products.
It is hoped that these measures will
serve to secure the future of the
Caribbean poultry sector, which oper-
ates in a highly competitive hemi-
spheric context.
A number of these policy tools could
potentially have relevance beyond the
Caribbean.
FFooccaa ll
PPoo iinntt
Clarke needs new strategies to grow agriculture!
Publisher:Patrick Maitland
Admin/Advertising Director:Susan Wissant
Advertising Executives:Nordia Paul; Bernadette Kerr
Consulting Editors:Vincent Wright, Jairzenho Bailey
Produced & Publishedby:
Agri Life Foundation LtdAMC Complex,
188 Spanish Town Road,Kingston 11, Jamaica, W.I.
Tel: (876) 923-7471 923-7428Fax: (876) 923-7428
Poultry producers need protection from imports
SEND YOUR COMMENTSSEND YOUR COMMENTS
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NEWS
The Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS)
has moved to facilitate greater dia-
logue among the sectors stakehold-
ers, by establishing its Chamber.
This is expected to facilitate the hosting of
regular fora among sector interests, thereby
accommodating an exchange of ideas and
views on the industrys development.The Chamber is a forum which will seek to
highlight challenges in the sector and provide
workable solutions for its progression; de-
velop and publicise opportunities within the
sector; enhance productivity and value
within the sector through integrated syner-
gies; provide the forum whereby critical is-
sues can be addressed with a commonality of
purpose; and advise the Government to cre-
ate a favourable and acceptable business en-
vironment for the sector.
Launching the Chamber at the Knutsford
Court Hotel, in Kingston, on February 1,
Minister of State in the Ministry of Agricul-
ture and Fisheries, Hon. Ian Hayles, said the
initiative is a critical component, which will
foster greater dialogue among stakeholders
for the growth of the sector.
Hayles reiterated that the JAS role is cru-
cial in identifying, protecting and promoting
the needs of the farmers. He used the oppor-
tunity to encourage everyone to buy local
produce to ensure that the farmers livelihood
can be sustained.
This is our country and the level of par-
ticipation from everyone is vital and impor-
tant. Whatever we do, the farmers have to be
at the centre of divestment, they have to be at
the centre of any policy framework or any
strategy going forward, he said.
For his part, President of the JAS, Glendon
Harris, said the Chamber would seek to ex-
pand commodity association groupings, thus
representing the wider interest of agriculture-
related stakeholders to include: agro-proces-
sors, educational institutions, suppliers,
marketers, exporters, among others.
JAS Launches Chamber to Assist Sector Stakeholders
Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Ian Hayles (1st right)raps with (l-r) Dionne Clarke-Harris, representative CARDI Jamaica, Past Presi-dent, Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS), Senator Norman Grant, and Henry Rain-
ford, CEO, Jamaica Livestock Association during the launch of the JAS Chamberat the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston on February 1. The Chamber, which is a
forum, seeks to develop and publicise opportunities within the agricultural sector;enhance productivity and value within the sector through integrated synergies;and provide an outlet whereby critical issues can be addressed with a common-ality of purpose.
Former Agriculture Minister RobertMontague is defending his handling of
Project GROW, which is now the sub-
ject of an audit.
Agriculture Minister Roger Clarke an-
nounced the audit in parliament yesterday
after disclosing that several tonnes of fer-
tiliser which is to be distributed under the
project are unaccounted for.
Clarke also said that the ministry has re-
ceived complaints of inequality in the distri-
bution of the fertiliser. Montague insisted
that the project was handled above board. He
noted that the necessary government pro-
curement procedures were followed.
According to him, special care was made
to ensure that the project was not politicised.
Project GROW was launched last November
by Montague to provide assistance to the
agriculture sector.
Under the project, some 1,000 tonnes of
fertiliser, pesticides, small tools, among other
things, were to be provided free of cost to
farmers.
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Montague defends GROWafter audit announced
The Ministry of Agriculture is planning toestablish 500 acres of Turmeric and Gin-ger in the new few weeks.
350 acres of turmeric will be planted in the
parishes of Westmoreland, Hanover, Claren-
don, St. Mary, St. Catherine, St.Thomas,
Trelawny and St. Elizabeth.
Turmeric is a plant which when processed
is used mostly as a food seasoning in the
form of curry powder, as a food colouring
and in pharmaceutical industries. In Jamaica,
turmeric grows wild in many parishes, par-
ticularly, Hanover, Westmoreland and St.
Elizabeth.
There are also plans to plant 150 acres of
ginger at the same time.
In making the announcement Agriculture
Minister Roger Clarke explained that the
markets for both spices are not being fully
exploited despite the quality of the spices
grown on the island.
A cadre of 10 graduates of the College of
Agriculture Science and Education (CASE)
has been recruited and will be trained and de-
ployed as extension officers exclusively to
ginger and turmeric farmers.
Gov to expand Turmericand Ginger production
Robert Montague
Former Agriculture Minister
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NEWS
Minister of Agricultureand Fisheries, RogerClarke, has informed that theGovernment has so far re-
alised a total of $1.0304 bil-
lion from the privatisation of
government owned sugar
factories.
Speaking in the House of
Representatives, today (Feb-
ruary 14), Mr. Clarke said
the St. Thomas Sugar Estate
was sold for $67.067 million
($42.5 million for the factory
and $24.56 million in lease
payments).
He also informed that the
Trelawny Sugar Estate was
sold for $127.5 million and
this represents the proceeds
from the sale of the factory,
as lease payments have been
deferred until July 2012.
The Frome, Monymusk
and Bernard Lodge sugar
factories were sold for
$835.9 million, including
$765 million for the factories
and $70.9 million in lease
payments. In the interest of
transparency, I am con-
strained to inform that these
receipts were against valua-
tions of $14.844 billion and
the Government will have to
absorb the Sugar Company
of Jamaicas total debt of
$35.03 billion, as at January31, 2012, Mr. Clarke said.
The Minister further told
the House that over $43 mil-
lion was paid to Mr. Aubyn
Hill for compensation for his
services during the privatisa-
tion process. Compensation
for Mr. Hill for privatisation
payments in round three was
$18.18 million. In addition
some $28.25 million was
paid by the Ministry for
round two, Mr. Clarke said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Clarke in-
formed that the privatisation
of the sugar factories is al-
ready showing encouragingresults.
Since the divestment of
the St. Thomas Sugar Estates
to Golden Grove Sugar
Company Limited in 2009,
cane production has in-
creased by 10.85 per cent
from 163 tonnes to 181,000
tonnes. Sugar production has
increased by 28.1 per cent
from 12,587 tonnes to
16,123 tonnes since the di-
vestment to Golden Grove
Sugar Company, the Minis-
ter stated.
Although there was an
unfortunate mishap that
caused the factory (TrelawnySugar Estate) to be closed
for rehabilitation in the
2010/11 crop, I am happy to
report that the new owners
have spent significant funds
and the factory will re-openfor this crop. This will stim-
ulate expansion of cane pro-
duction by farmers in the
area, he added.
Mr. Clarke said that hav-
ing handed over the factories
to COMPLANT (from
China) in August, 2011, he
was satisfied with the level
of investment by Pan
Caribbean in Frome, Mony-
musk and Bernard Lodge
Sugar Estates.
He informed that Pan
Caribbean has procured over
50 pieces of equipment for
use on the Estates they have
acquired and they have com-mitted themselves to putting
up a new factory at Mony-
musk by 2016.
The total investment con-
templated by Pan Caribbean
Sugar is about $1.1 billion,
Mr. Clarke said.
In the meantime, in the fi-
nancial year 2012/13, the
Government will spend over
$1 billion in relocating resi-
dents of the sugar barracks,
upgrading sporting facilities
and executing critical small
community infrastructure
projects.
Additionally, in order toensure that cane farmers
continue to maintain a stake
in the sugar sector, the gov-
ernment will increase the
capital of the cane expansion
fund to $1.7 billion, fast
track rehabilitation of critical
cane roads and establish a
number of Agro-Parks in
sugar dependent areas.
I am constrained to point
out that the expenditure on
these projects in the next fi-
nancial year is contingent on
the government finalising an
agreement with the Interna-
tional Monetary Fund, Mr.
Clarke said.
Former Chief Executive Officer ofthe state-run SCJ Holdings, AubynHill, has mounted a strong defence fol-
lowing news that he was paid more than
$43 million for leading the divestment
of the country's sugar assets.
SCJ Holdings was responsible for the
sale of the five sugar factories and six
estates which were owned by the Gov-
ernment of Jamaica.
During the period Hill's contract with
the company was repeatedly the subject
of scrutiny.
Controversy was ignited in October
2010 when it was revealed that his con-
sultancy firm, Corporate Strategies,
was being paid an average one-point-
nine million dollars each month.
In Parliament on Tuesday February
14, Agriculture Minister Roger Clarke,
revealed that Mr. Hill received a total
of 43 million dollars.
Mr. Hill declared that the country re-
ceived value for money.
He said it was fair pay for the volume
of work done, and the long term sav-
ings for the country.
The privatisation of the sugar facto-ries was completed last August when
the Chinese firm, Complant, officially
assumed ownership of Frome, Mony-
musk and Bernard Lodge.
In the meantime, the leadership of the
All-Island Jamaica Cane Farmers As-
sociation, is raising questions about the
43 million dollars paid to Mr. Hill.
Chairman of the Association, Allan
Rickards, says he does not believe the
payment was justified.
Hill defends his $43M salary packagePrivatisation ofSugar Factories
Yields $1 Billion
Aubyn Hill, Former CEOof SCJ Holdings was paid more than
$43 million for leading the divestment
of the country's sugar assets.
ROGER CLARKE
MINISTEROF
AGRICULTURE
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President of the
Jamaica Agricul-
tural Society (JAS)
Glendon Harris (r),greets Regional
Customer Service
Manager at theJa-
maica Public Serv-
ice Company (JPS),
Kathie Cook, whileRegional Manager
of the Rural Agricul-
tural DevelopmentAuthority, Bernard
Goff looks onat
centre.
Plans are well advanced for this year's stag-ing of the annual Montpelier Agriculturaland Industrial Show, which will be held onEaster Monday (April 9) on the Montpelier
grounds in St. James.The event, which is being organised by the
Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) in part-nership with the St. James Association of
Branch Societies, is expected to cost $2.28
million. Organisers anticipate that the 2012show will be the best ever with more attrac-tive displays and the largest crowd of sup-
porters and patrons.President of the JAS and chairman of the
shows planning committee, Glendon Harris,
said seed funding has already been providedto all the JAS branches so that they can begin
to prepare and enable their displays to repre-sent their best efforts.
We will be going all out this year. At thisstage, the grounds are about 97 per cent ready
for the show, as well as electricity and water,
he stated at the official launch held on March28 at the Sunset Beach Resort in Freeport.
Former Speaker of the House of Represen-tatives, Violet Neilson (left), presents Grace
Smith with the St. James Parish second placecertificate and prize money, which she won at
last year's DenbighAgricultural Show in MayPen, Clarendon.
Mr. Harris said the livestock display is ex-pected to be the biggest yet, with theYS Falls
Farms and the Montpelier Research Stationparticipating.
The Montpelier Research Station will bejoining us to show off their wide range of an-
imals and other products and for the first timein many, many years, we will be having the
YS Falls Farms under the leadership of Dr.Wellington and his champion Jamaica Hope
cattle on display.
Montpelier Show to bethe biggest and best yet
RE-ENGINEERING COCOA:(l-r) Agriculture & FisheriesMinister, Roger Clarke presentsHoward Wright
with certificate of participation at theofficial launchof theRe-engineeringCocoa Rural Economy through Agro-processing, Eco-Tourism & Entrepre-
neurship, RECREATE project, a 350,000 joint venture between the Eu-ropean Union and the Cocoa Industry Board. The project was launchedtoday (March 20) at the Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries, Hope Gardens,
Kingston 6.
Lionfish Fast Becoming the Caribbean's New
Delicacy: National Lion Fish Project Lead, Dr. Dayne Buddo(left) demonstrates how to properly prepare the lionfish forconsumption as President and Chief Executive Officer, Sco-
tiabank, Bruce Bowen (second left) and Pro Vice Chancellor
and Principal, University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Cam-
pus, Prof. Gordon Shirley (right) closely observe. The fish that
once seemed untouchable with its defensive spines, has nowproven conquerable, quickly whipped up into a delicious dish,
the lionfish could easily become the seafood of choice for
many a discerning palate.
www.agrilifefoundation.org
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10 THE AGRICULTURALIST APRIL 2012 WWW.THEAGRICULTURALIST.COM
T
he College of Agriculture, Science and Ed-
ucation, CASE, is expected to get involved
in DNA research, soon.The College has been given a Polymerase
Chain Reaction (PCR) machine from the Co-
conut Industry Board. and board member. Dr.
Anthony Myrie.
The machine was presented on Thursday,
with a demonstration to senior members of
staff. and members of the security forces.The
machine has a variety of uses related to DNAtesting.
It can also distinguish different strains that
cause different diseases. It has been used to
find out and detect lethal yellowing diseases in
coconuts.
The donation to the college will improve its
research capacity and provide hands-on expe-
rience and for the students.Tom Dennis fromagricultural company Elders says some farmers
who cannot afford to feed their lambs are sell-
ing them sooner than usual."That's why we're
seeing this lamb price fall, because basically [it
is] forced selling," he said.
New varieties
of vitamin A
cassava
A
research team led by the Interna-
tional Institute of Tropical Agricul-
ture (IITA) has developed three new
varieties of vitamin A cassava that could im-
prove the livelihoods of millions of farmers
in Africa and help put an end to malnutrition
due to vitamin A deficiency in the continent.
The vitamin A cassava varieties named by
the National Variety release Committee of
Nigeria as UMUCASS 36, UMUCASS 37,
and UMUCASS 38 are recognized as IITA
genotypes TMS 01/1368, TMS 01/1412, and
TMS 01/1371.
They have high beta carotene (pro-vitamin
A) and are suitable for food uses as gari, fufu,and high quality cassava flour. The yellow
root color of the vitamin A-rich varieties are
products of over 20 years of breeding efforts
for improved nutritional quality using tradi-
tional breeding methods involving hy-
bridization and selection of cassava seedlings
followed by clonal propagation of the se-
lected desirable plants.
Drs. Peter Kulakow and Norbert Maroya,
IITA Cassava Breeders, said, The develop-
ment of these varieties is a major break-
through that will change the nutritional status
of people living on cassava-based food.
Known for its high carbohydrate content, cas-
sava is the fourth largest staple after wheat,
maize, and rice consumed in the developing
countries, with over 200 million people in
sub-Saharan Africa relying on the crop forover half of their daily food energy.
---------------------------------------------
New urban farming
structure breaks
ground
Developers of a new concept in urbanfarming, the Plantagon Greenhouse,broke ground for the first structure in Swedenthis week. The new type of greenhouse for
vertical farming in cities provides a way touse excess heat and CO2 from industries
while growing crops.The greenhouse is being built in Linkoping,
Sweden and is expected to be completed in12-16 months, according to a statement re-
leased by Plantagon International. The plantwill produce vegetables from the recycled re-
sources. "I am immensely proud that Linkop-ing is the chosen site for the first vertical
greenhouse. We will be the first city in theworld to test the new technology and the sys-
tems involved to develop sustainable agricul-tural solutions for future cities," Paul
Lindvall, Mayor of Linkoping, said in a state-ment.
"This is a historic day for Plantagon. Thisceremony marks the realization of the vision
of creating functional sustainable solutionsfor the growing cities of today and tomorrow,
where we can grow food in the cities in a re-source-smart way, making use of the special
conditions of the city," said Hans Hassle,
CEO of Plantagon.
By O. Rodger Hutchinson, JIS PRO
Coffee berries that have been affected by
the Coffee Berry Borer in the hills of
Bangor Ridge, Portland. The leaves have
also been stripped from the tree as a result of the
American Leaf Spot disease.
The Coffee Industry Board (CIB), in collabo-
ration with stakeholders (farmers, the coffeegrowers association and coffee dealers), has set
up a Task Force to aggressively fight the Coffee
Berry Borer, which poses a serious threat to the
industry.
The Coffee Berry Borer is a microscopic bee-tle that invades the coffee berry in its early stage,
eventually destroying the berry.
Speaking with JIS News at a Coffee Farmers
Workshop and Training Seminar at Bangor
Ridge, Portland, on February 16, Director Gen-
eral of the CIB, Christopher Gentles, explainedthat the initial work of the task force is to de-
velop strategies to reduce the population of the
Coffee Berry Borer pest
to a level that does notthreaten the economic
viability of the industry.
He pointed out that if
the pest is not con-
trolled, the coffee indus-
try could lose nearly$432 million in export
earnings and farmers
could lose as much as 50
per cent of their harvest.
Gentles said that some
farmers have virtuallyabandoned their fields,
thus providing a safe host for the borer, and this
has allowed the population to increase dramati-
cally.
What we want to do is take back our industry
and re-engage the farmers to the farms and toreap the berries. Currently, the level of loss has
been estimated at 13.4 per cent for coffee that is
received in the field. We want to reduce this tosix per cent or lower, he told JIS News.
He said the Task Force will have as its primary
duty, the containment of the pest by way of pub-
lic awareness, training and public meetings, in
collaboration with the coffee dealers.
Our control strategy is based on three planks:reaping and field sanitation (the removal of
dried, ripe and green berries); setting some
50,000 Pheromone traps in the field that the CIB
will be distributing; and using more environ-
mentally friendly insecticide in order to bring
down the population to acceptable levels, Mr.Gentles said.
Coffee farmers from Bangor Ridge and sur-
rounding communities, including Cherry Hill,
Mt. St. Bernard and Mahoe, who attended the
workshop expressed appreciation for the infor-
mation about dealing with the Berry Borer pestand for the free traps that were distributed.
CIB to Fight Coffee Berry Borer
Christopher Gentles
Director General
Coffee Industry Board
CASE gets help with DNA research
THE JAMAICA 4-H CLUBSTo Make The Best Better
Providing Training For TheNation's Youths (Age 5-25)
Creating Better Leaders For Tomorrow
THE JAMAICA 4-H CLUBS95 Old Hope Road,
Kingston 6, Jamaica WI
Tel: 927-4050-2 Fax: 978-3209
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.jamaica4hclubs.com
Achievement Days 2012St. Thomas - March 29, 2012 -- Yallahs Primary
Portland - April 4, 2012 -- CASENational Achievement Days -April 25-27, 2012-Denbigh Showground
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IINNTTEERRNNAATT IIOONNAALL NNEEWWSS
Environmentally Friendly Pest Control Measures:
-Controlling the Berry Borer with the Rustic Traps
- Re-emphasizing Stripping
Helps to minimize the negative impact to the fragile
eco-system of the Blue Mountains.
Increased production and high-quality berries
Major reduction in pest control cost
For further information contact:
Advisory Services Unit
Coffee Industry BoardWillie Henry Drive, Kingston 15
758-3903 or 758-1259
Increase
Production with
Eco-Friendly
Strategies
US grain exporters face a "crisis of competi-
tiveness" which is seeing foreign rivals raise
market share, helped in corn by doubts over
the quality of American supplies.
The US Grains Council, whose role is to
promote the country's grain exports, warned
of "rapidly changing market realities" which
were eroding US pre-eminence in agricultural
commodity shipments.
The group focused on corn, in which the
US is, for the first time in 2011-12, to account
for less than 50% of world shipments, thanks
to the emergence of Ukraine as a major ex-
porter.
America's exports will ease to 43.2m
tonnes, or 46% of the world total, down from
52% last season, on US Department of Agri-
culture exports.
However, the US is also to be overtaken by
Brazil as a soybean exporter, and in wheat is
seeing its lead in shipments eroded by Aus-
tralia and Russia.
"US producers face a crisis of competitive-ness," the council said, noting an "intense bat-
tle" for share in export markets. "Aggressive
competitors in Argentina, Brazil and the
Black Sea region are ramping up produc-
tion in response to high global prices for corn
and other feed grains."
US producers "can hardly fault others for
competing effectively for market share be-
cause, in large part, we taught them how to
do it", the group said.
"But rising competition means US produc-
ers must look aggressively to emerging mar-
kets in which the US can earn a competitive
edge."
The comments follow forecasts last week
from the USDA that the US was over the next
decade to continue to lose market share in ex-
ports of major crops including corn, soybeans
and wheat and, to a lesser extent, cotton and
sorghum.
In wheat, US shipments will represent 16%
of the world total in 2021, down from an av-
erage of 23% over the past five years, the last
decade, mainly due to increased shipmentsfrom the Black Sea.
US crop exports face
'crisis of competitiveness'
China's sugar imports hiked
to more than 3m tonnes
China is to challenge the European Unionand the US as top sugar importer as soonas this season, experts said, warning that poor
weather will drag the country's output short
of government targets.
The International Sugar Organisation cut by
1.13m tonnes to 11.5m tonnes its forecast for
Chinese sugar production in 2011-12, citing a
surprise 8% decline in output in the first four
months of the season.
The production decline, blamed on "ad-verse weather conditions throughout the veg-
etation and harvesting periods", meant that
China "may not be able to reach its target to
increase white sugar output to 12.0m tonnes
in 2011-12".
This will translate into "significantly higher
demand" for buy-ins, the ISO said, noting
that "in December alone, sugar imports
reached 500,000 tones".
The organisation hiked its forecast for Chi-
nese imports by 625,000 tonnes to 3.325m
tonnes, leaving the country within an ace of
taking top rank among buyers.
The European Union is seen as the biggest
importer in 2011-12, with purchases of
3.387m tonnes, with US buy-ins pegged at
3.380m tonnes.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia last
month forecast China becoming the largest
sugar importer by 2020 as the sweetenerrose towards levels of per capita consumption
that it has achieved in other countries.
Nonetheless, the ISO warned of "bearish
pressure on world prices of sugar", a more
downbeat stance than it has taken previously,
as better output than previously thought in the
European Union, the former Soviet Union
and, in particular, Brazil offsets the China
production downgrade.
Paris, France:
The International Fertilizer Industry Asso-
ciation (IFA) has recently released itsshort-term Fertilizer Outlook 2012-2013 to the
public.
The report shows that the fertilizer sector
has now fully recuperated from the setback of
2008/09 and is maintaining a steady stream of
investment in new capacity, capitalizing on the
positive forecasts of a 3 per cent increase in
consumption worldwide for the main nutrients
nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium
(K) in 2012.
Agricultural commodity prices peaked at the
beginning of 2011 and remained high through-
out the first half of the year due to tight mar-
ket conditions in 2010/11.
Last years global cereal harvest reached a
new record of 2.3 billion metric tonnes. How-
ever, this increase in production will be en-
tirely absorbed by rising demand for food,
feed and biofuel uses. As a result, the global
stock-to-use ratio is seen as remaining stable
but still relatively low at the end of the2011/12 campaign.
More worryingly, the ratio for coarse grains
is expected to decline for the third consecutive
year, to a very low level, due to a disappoint-
ing maize harvest in the United States (ac-
cording to USDA crop forecasts).
The FAO indicated in the last quarter of
2011 that agricultural commodity prices had
been contracting in the second half of the year
but were still well above historical levels,
driven by tight maize market conditions and
competition for land between crops.
Stimulated by the sharp rebound of world
economic activity, particularly in developing
countries, and strong agricultural market fun-
damentals, IFA estimates that global fertilizer
consumption increased by 6.2 per cent in
2010/11, to 173 million metric tonnes (Mt) ofnutrients.
Steady rise in fertilizer
consumption expected in 2012
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Cats are furry and cute, butthey can also be aggres-
sively playful and occasion-ally downright bad-tempered. After
all, a cat is an animal that always re-mains a little wild at heart, and
however tame it seems, it may justdecide to walk on the wild side once
in a while.Cat scratches or bites can cause
severe ailments in people who havepoor resistance and not enough im-
munity. For some people with seri-ous diseases like cancer, a cat bite
or scratch can be extremely difficultto heal.
Initial symptoms:
Need to take precautions
Got a bite from your cat? You dontpay any attention to it at the begin-
ning. But slowly you find some-thing is wrong with your health.
The spot where the cat hadscratched slowly turns into a sore
and grows infectious. Actually, al-most a week may pass from the
time of the original bite till the soredevelops. And only then will you
start thinking that something is se-riously wrong.
Cats generally scratch mostly onthe hands, legs and other areas of
the limbs. If you are cuddling yourcat and squeeze a little too hard, you
might get a bite on your nose andface too!
Whenever an infection developsout of a scratch, the gland directly
associated with that part of yourbody is affected. The glandular in-
fection causes inflammation of thelymph nodes and that is painful too.
Immediately see a doctor beforethe infection grows any further.
Sometimes the exact cause of in-flammation and swelling cannot be
detected just by looking at the sore.Therefore, a doctors advice be-
comes important. You might have to
go for blood tests to find out what
harm the scratch has actually done.
Actual treatments:
Prevention at the earliest
Had you not excited the cat itprobably wouldnt have been
aroused enough to scratch you. It isalways better to play with cats
keeping them at arms length andnot to cause them any annoyance
through teasing. Trust us, cats canreact swiftly.
But if the mishap has already oc-curred, go for the right treatment.
You may need a course of antibi-otics for a long term, at least for a
couple of months or more. An ani-mal poison has infected you and
that can really be very dangerous.So it takes a long time to heal.
Yes there are injections, but theprocess is painful. The inflamed
area will be pierced with a needleand the infection driven out.
Finally, you have to be doublycareful if a street animal has
scratched you. Don't tease them un-necessarily. If you don't create prob-
lems for them, they won't disturbyou!
PPEETT CCOORRNNEERR
How to Stop Your
Cat Scratching!
The Project Team of representa-tives from the Munich ClimateInsurance Initiative (MCII), theCaribbean Catastrophe Risk Insur-
ance Facility (CCRIF), Micro En-
sure and Munich Re in partnership
with the Development Bank of Ja-maica (DBJ) has taken another step
towards developing a Livelihood
Protection Policy for low-income
earners and a Loan Portfolio Coverinsurance policy for lenders to theMicro, Small and Medium Sized
(MSME) Enterprise sector.
Reently the DBJ hosted the second
in a series of workshops on ClimateRisk Adaptation and Insurance in the
Caribbean to collect additional data
to prepare product design and create
policies to aid low income house-
holds, particularly vulnerable farm-ers, in reducing or avoiding loss and
damage from extreme weather
events such as heavy rains and
winds, floods and hurricanes.
Presenters at the seminar includedrepresentatives from MicroEnsure,
the world largest microinsurance
brokers, the MCII, CCRIF, and Mu-
nich Re. According to the message
carried by the presenters, low-in-come communities face daunting
challenges in managing weather-re-
lated risks, and farmers and day
labourers are among the first to beaffected by bad weather. Very few of
these persons have sufficient
weather information to inform their
farming and investment decisions or
have access to financial back-upmechanisms for hard times.
n addition, few have adequate re-sources to apply other risk manage-
ment strategies (use of savings, sale
of assets, credit and so on) to man-
age disaster risk, translating into a
negative cycle of poverty.The Livelihood Protection Policy
(LPP) is one method of breaking this
negative cycle by providing individ-
uals with an amount of money
within a short period of time after anextreme weather event so that they
can quickly start rebuilding their
lives.
In leading the discussion on thebenefits of the LPP, Dieter Broesche,
the representative of reinsurer Mu-
nich Re, pointed out that this was
not insurance coverage for life or
property but instead ones liveli-hood. So, for example, a small
farmer would be able to take cover-age for his farming activities and,
after a weather-related event with
windspeed at - for example - 100 or
more miles per hour occurred,
would receive a financial payout.Because it is aimed at the low-in-
come sector, premiums would be at
a level that is affordable to the
farmer.
The LPP would be offered in fixedblocks of coverage, for example
$100, but purchasers would be able
to adjust coverage to their individual
needs by buying more than one pol-icy.
An important feature of the LPP is
an SMS-based warning and claims
notification system that advises pol-
icy holders about upcoming weatherevents by their cell phones. This
would allow people to react in timeto secure their assets, leading to a re-
duction in losses. Should the trigger
level be reached then a message
would let policy holders know.
In so far as distributors (such asbanks, credit unions, cooperatives
and other such entities which lend to
the rural and low-income sector) of
the LPP are concerned, Mr.
Broesche spoke about the LoanPortfolio Cover, a trigger-based in-
surance policy which would provide
portfolio level protection against
loan default for lender institutionswhich have significant portfolios of
individual and MSME loans ex-
posed to weather risks. This policy
will enable the institutions to re-
structure or write off defaulted loansof their clients.
DBJ Investigates Insurance Coverage For Low-Income Earners
COMMITTED TO HEAL, RESCUE AND PROTECT
Jamaican Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animal
10 Winchester Road, Kingston 10Tel: (876) 929-0320: Fax: (876) 754-4594 [email protected]
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