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Agriculture Minister Floyd Green
By Racquel Porter
With the possibility of an upcoming dry quarter, the Ministry of Agriculture says it has activated a number of measures in anticipation of next year's dry season.
Agriculture Minister Floyd Green says the government has procured irrigation kits valued at more than $100 million.
"We've already started to prepare for what we expect will be a dry quarter in January to March. So unfortunately, we're going to go from rain to drought. And as such...we're spending $120 million to procure small irrigation units that we will be distributing in the first quarter of 2025, so we can help our farmers withstand any dryness that comes in that first quarter," he said.
In addition, Mr. Green said the ministry has been expanding its network of retention ponds.
"Thankfully, we did some last year and they've come into play. So in areas like Hinds Town, again, the significant rainfall that we saw, a lot of that has gone into the retention pond, so they now have that water to treat with during the dry period that we expect."
Meanwhile, Mr. Green has declared 2025 a pivoting year for agriculture.
He said the ministry will focus on expanding the rural youth economic programme, among other initiatives.
"Productivity is going to be the order of the day, not just production. We spent a lot of time speaking about our production numbers, but we have to ensure that we're maximising what we put in. So we're going to be expanding research, especially around seeds, planting materials, to ensure that we're planting the right climate smart varieties. We will be purchasing some new tractors as we continue to drive the mechanisation of our agricultural sector. We are going to enter into a public private partnership around tractor and drone usage so that our farmers will have greater access," he announced.
Mr. Green also announced plans for the fisheries sector, noting that the ministry has already started to outlay new technologies to enhance productivity.
"We have deployed nine fish aggregating devices where our artisanal fishers know instead of going out and doing guesswork in fisheries, they go out to a GPS location where a fan has been put in place that is used to draw in pelagic species so that they can fish more efficiently and get greater returns on their investment. You will see much more of that in 2025," the minister declared.