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Sugarcane Loader
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Fletcher
Dead at 90
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Head of the recently appointed Praedial Larceny Prevention Unit in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Deputy Superintendent of police Kevin Francis (3rd l) poses with his deputy Sergeant Damian Harry (1st l) and the Unit coordinator Judyann Edwards, at a media briefing held on March 12 at Ministry of Agriculture offices, Hope Gardens, Kingston 6
Courtney L Fletcher
July 20, 1924 February 28, 2015
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EDITORIAL PAGE
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t was good news for farmers as the Minister of Agriculture announced and launched
more plans to prevent or stop praedial larceny, also know as farm thief. This is a criminal offense punishable with meager fines
and a short prison term.
With an estimated annual loss of some
$5 billion, or nearly a quarter of agricultures
GDP and perhaps an equal number of people
refusing to invest in agriculture, the farm
criminals have been the biggest winners.
As these heartless people continue to
reap what they never sowed, several thousand farmers and family members have sustained serious injuries or have been murdered
as they seek to protect their source of income.
Since 1962, the Jamaican government
has conducted several studies, held consultations with stakeholders and has put forward
several solutions to stop the farm criminals.
But overall, it has been a miserable failure.
The few pockets, or years of success, are
nothing to write about as the criminal elements continue to rob the profit out of farming.
Focal
Point
by
PATRICK MAITLAND
police discreetly return to their original duties, the criminals resurface and continue to
plague the farmers.
However, we cannot expect the government to solve praedial larceny without active
and committed participation of the farmers
and their leaders.
We must admit that the thieves are
among some of the farmers, neighbours, family members, as well as police and other security employees.
The opinions expressed in this newspaper, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Agriculturalist and its publishers. Please send your comments or suggestions to editor@theagriculturalist.com. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all articles will be published.
In photo (l-r) The Agriculturalists editor Patrick Maitland raps managing director of Red Stripe, Cedric Stewart
and chairman of Red Stripe, Richard
Byles at a recent lease signing ceremony for 250 acres of lands at Cheesefield, St. Catherine for the cultivation of
cassava, at the companys Spanish
Town Road offices.
Patrick Maitland
Consulting Editors:
OPINIONS
AMC Complex,
188 Spanish Town Road,
Kingston 11, Jamaica, W.I.
Tel: (876) 923-7471 923-7428
Fax: (876) 923-7428
agriculturalist@gmail.com
editor@theagriculturalist.com
www.theagriculturalist.com
he popularity of dark chocolate throughout the world has surpassed just being a
flavour of the month. The rapid growth in demand for fine flavour cocoa, primarily used
in the sought- after dark chocolate, over the
past five years, is set to continue bringing lucrative benefits to the Caribbeans fine cocoa
industry.
How the region can fully exploit this enhanced business growth through market penetration will be explored at the 3rd
CARIFORUM-EU Business Forum, being
hosted by the Caribbean Export Development
NEWS
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Food Security
Lenworth Fulton
is Priority
Fletcher Dead at 90
PRODUCT TALK:
JJamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) CEO Christopher Emanuel (l) greets Hi-Pro Farm Supplies staff Vanessa Benjamin,
pharmacist (c) and Denise Johnson, marketing officer at a recent agricultural summit organized by the JAS and held at the
Jamaica Conference Center, Kingston.
Jamaica Producers
reports decline in
coffee production
Allan Rickards
Chairman, All-Island Jamaica
Cane Farmers Association
play an integral role in the identification of
the projects.
The funds are used to build libraries,
stadiums and all these things. What we are
asking, could some of the funds be directed
M
am
Th
NEWS
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Coffee
Price Soars
By patrick Maitland
Editor-The Agriculturalist
he scarcity of Jamaica Blue Mountain
Coffee is sending shockwaves throughout the international markets especially
Japan, which has been in a panic for failing
to supply their clients.
Prices at farmgate for cherry coffee has
moved from a minimum of J$3,500 last
year to a current minimum of J$9,000 per
box. There are incidents of cherry coffee
selling at prices well above $10,000 per
box, which is believed to be highly unsustainable.
Coffee analysts told The Agriculturalist that from as far back as 2010, several
small farmers had withdrawn from the
growing of coffee due to unfavourable
prices at farmgate for their cherry coffee
and the high cost of fertilizer.
Incidentally a farmer with 3-5 acres
of coffee had achieved this by starting out
with a 1/2 acre plot and gradually increase
over a number of years to a current holding
of 3-5 acres. After abandoning their farms
and it is overtaken by weeds and return to
ruinate, it becomes impossible for them return and resuscitates the entire plot all at
once without proper funding. Some were
able to restart while others just simply give
up the idea of coffee production, a coffee
analyst explains.
The 2013/2014 coffee crop was very
small as a result of the effects of 2012 Hurricane Sandy which battered the plantation
and brought widespread Coffee Leaf Rust
in the aftermath.
For the 2014/2015 crop many of the remaining coffee farmers had high hopes of
recovery, but was hit by an the worst
drought in modern history with greatest effect in Western St. Andrew and Portland
sections of the Blue Mountains. As a result,
some farmers reap as much 10 boxes but
could only sell two, the remainder being
light because of poor development of the
bean.
Coffee analysts are suggesting that the
industry is changing with most coffee dealers with large processing facilities now
moving to enter or increase production to
guarantee their minimum throughput. No
longer can small farmers be relied on maintain steady supplies of high quality cherry
coffee, a coffee exporter confirmed.
Minister of Agriculture, Labour and Social Security, Derrick Kellier (seated centre) and Managing Director of Red Stripe,
Cedric Stewart (seated right), sign a lease agreement for 250 acres of lands at Cheesefield, St. Catherine for the cultivation of cassava. The signing ceremony was held on March 10, at the companys Spanish Town Road offices. Others (standing from right) are: Chief Executive Officer of the Agro Investment Corporation (AIC), Everton Spencer; Deputy Chairman
of the AIC, Jonathan Brown; Donovan Stanberry, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry; Luther Buchanan, State Minister in
the Ministry and Cavell Francis-Rhiney, LRM Business Development Lead, Red Stripe. Richard Byles, Chairman of Red
Stripe seated left.
and has been a pioneer in agriculture for over 47 years to all the
Caribbean islands. The company
represents some of the largest
brands in the agricultural industry,
like BASF, Omex and Miller.
AG Chem Plant Limited was
formed to acquire the assets of the
agricultural chemicals division of J.
Wray & Nephew, which include a
formulating plant, land, buildings,
all trade names and chemical registrations and all registrations in other
Caribbean islands where 50 per cent
of sales have been, for a number of
years.
The directors
of AG
Chem Plant
Graham
Dunkley
continues
to serve as general manager
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George Callaghan
CEO, SIA
Dian Medley
VP, CASE
PROFILE
NEWS
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By Patrick Maitland
Editor-The Agriculturalist
amaican sugarcane industry got a boost
with the recent release of the Mapex
MXL-126 High Reach Cane Loader, rated as
one of the most reliable, efficient and economical cane harvesting machines in the region.
According to Richard Powell, Sr., executive chairman of Machinery & Parts Export,
LLC (Mapex) based in Mandeville and headquarters in Orlando, Florida, USA, the
Mapex MXL-126 was designed with a simple concept in mind: to create the worlds
best whole stalk sugar cane loader. With that
as our inspiration, we made the most reliable,
Secretary and PR
Director, CASE
Class of 1988,
Patrick Maitland (l)
presents CASE
president, Mary
Nichols a check of
$166,500 to cover
bursaries for six
students in the
faculty of
agriculture.
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IN SUPPORT OF EDUCATION:
Jamaica Dairy Development Board, chairman Janice Holness (3rd l), Hugh Graham, CEO; College of Agriculture, Science and Education
(CASE) president Mary Nicholas (2nd l) pose with scholarship winning students of the college. Two scholarships valued at J$600,000 annually and two bursarieswere presented to students of animal science and general agriculture valued at J$120,000 annually to students
of animal science and/or general agriculture. A Book grant to the library at CASE to ensure that the college is up to date on the latest publications in agriculture, animal science and dairy science were also donated by the Dairy Board.
REVITALIZATION OF
THE DAIRY SECTOR
PROJECT FOCUS
LOAN COMPONENT
Beef and dairy farmers have benefited from loans totaling $64 M for pasture development; purchasing
breeding stock; and upgrading farm equipment.
Jamaica Dairy Development Board, chairman Janice Holness (l) presents scholarship
agreement letter to a CASE student.
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Silbert O'Meally of
Agro Grace (l) and
Winston Thomas
of Newport Mills
inspect pesticide
at a recent
agricultural
summit organized
by the JAS and
was held at the
Jamaica Conference Center,
Kingston.
Member of Parliament for North Eastern St. Elizabeth, Raymond Pryce (right),
looks on as Chair of the Digicel Foundation, Jean Lowrie Chin (foreground), cuts
the ribbon to open to the shade house, which the Foundation handed over to the
JCDC at the Louise Bennett Garden Theatre, in Kingston, on March 11. Others
observing are: Chairman of the Ranny Williams Re-development Committee and
Board Commissioner of the JCDC, Pamela Redwood (2nd right); and Executive
Director of the JCDC, Delroy Gordon.
Farmer Lawrence Lynch (2nd left) displays onion reaped from his field with (from
left) the Hon Derrick Kellier, Minister of Agriculture, Labour and Social Security;
Donovan Stanberry, permanent secretary; and Don McGlashan, director general,
both of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, during a tour of onion fields in the
Yallahs Agro-Park in St. Thomas on March 18.
TECHNOLOGY NEWS
Mobile Computing
in Agriculture
New Player in
Nitrogen Management
B
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Roy Moxam at his farm in Flagaman, St. Elizabeth where his escallion crop was used to demonstrate the successful control of the Beet Armyworm using Alverde.
is working said Conley Salmon, Hi-Pro Vice President of Marketing for Feed & Agricultural Supplies. Were very happy with this product because
we are in a position to efficiently safeguard farmers profits by controlling infestation, he continued.
Hi-Pros agronomy team has already conducted
demonstrations on a number of farms to prove the
effectiveness of the insecticide. Over three years
now, Im having trouble with the Beet Armyworm,
said Roy Moxam, a farmer from Flagaman, St. Elizabeth, and participant in the demonstrations, whose
escallion crop has been consistently destroyed by
Beet Armyworm. I used the Alverde on a half-acre
[of escallion] and it destroyed the worms. The crop
is now just fresh, green and pretty.
Alverde is classified by the US Environmental
Protection Agency as a reduced risk candidate for
the environment and is registered with the Pesticides
Control Authority of Jamaica.
It is part of a new generation of chemicals with
minimal environmental impact and active ingredients which rapidly break down, making it considerably safer for consumers of the finished product
than previous insecticides.
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Project Management
This area is more appropriately described as project incubation, in that Agro-Invest will manage investment projects until
such time as they are considered to be sustainable, and can be
handed over to external investors or operators.
Resource Mobilization
Recognizing that most business financing models have a debt
and equity component, technical expertise will be available
to design loan packages, working with such local institution as
the Development Bank of Jamaica and external lending agencies. The equity portion will be mobilized through leveraging
the Agro-Invests assets base to secure external capital.
Investor Identification and Facilitation
Agro-Invest will identify joint venture partners through packaging of products and actively securing equity partners, both
locally and internationally. Agro-Invest will also partner with
Jamaica Trade & Invest in seeking joint venture partners, and
assisting them in making their capital injection, optimising
any incentives that are available to foster external investment.
Contact:
EVERTON SPENCER (CEO)
AGRO-INVESTMENT CORPORATION
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Newport Fersan Technical and Sales team including Managing Director Dennis Valdez (9th l) pose with members of JWray & Nephew, St Elizabeth Sugar Cane Farmers Association and Fair Trade Association after a special field day training session.JWray & Nephew also shared testimonials on their improved yields based on the
Fersan precise nutrition programme. Other farmers also reported improved cane yields as a result of the customised blend of fertilizer developed by the company.
Newport Fersan, Dennis Valdez (l) presents a special sample of the fertilizer bland to cane farmer M Terrlonge
t h e
f i r s t
providing our unique recipe for precise nutrition programme. We don't only have a
sales team out there selling products but
we also have a technical team that visits
your farm, makes an assessment of your
farm coffee, citrus, sugar cane, vegetable, you name it, anything."
o n
t h e
l a n d
SPONSORED BY:
Newport-Fersan (Jamaica) Limited as part of its farmers and public education programme
Send questions and comments to: Technical Manager: Newport-Fersan, Lot No 2a/2b Wherry Wharf Complex, Newport East, Kingston - 967-5815
HEALTH WATCH
NutriCare
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By
Hunger vs Craving
Questions &Comments
gloria.bent@gmail.com
lthough the life-expectancy gap between men and women has decreased, women still live 5.2 years longer
than men.
Several things work against men.
They tend to smoke and drink more than
women and they dont seek the medical
attention they need as often as women.
There also are health conditions that
only affect men, such as prostate cancer,
testicular cancer and low testosterone.
Some men also define themselves by
their work, which can add to their stress.
What can I do to
stay healthy and
prevent disease?
Jamaicas #1
Farmers Newspaper
THE AGRICULTURALIST
Reaches More Farmers
Book your advert
today...923-7471
editor@theagriculturalist.com
Hunger
Usually occurs when you haven't
eaten for a few hours or more
Results in a rumbling stomach,
headache or feeling of weakness
Doesn't pass with time
Isn't just for one specific food
Can be satisfied by a healthy snack or
meal
Craving
Are usually for comfort foods, such as
chocolate, sweets and fatty foods
Are often caused by negative feelings
Lead to eating that makes you feel
good at first, but then guilty
May be stronger when you're dieting,
especially if you're giving up your favorite foods
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