The Guyana Rice Develop-ment Board (GRDB) has provided US$10,000 to Jamaica’s Ministry of Agriculture for the establishment of a seed nursery in preparation for the cultivation of some 5,000 acres of rice on the island for domestic consumption.
Director of the Agricultural Support Project, of Jamaica’s Ministry of Agriculture, Hershell Brown, told Stabroek News during the Regional Agricultural Investment Forum that an officer of the GRDB would be travelling to Jamaica this week to assist with seed production.
The production of seed would start this month and as soon as they become available for commercial production, “we will begin production,” he said.
The immediate intention, Brown said, was to start production on a phased basis using, initially, 1,000 acres of land already identified in St Elizabeth.
He said the investment centre attached to the Ministry of Agriculture has already identified investors for the 1,000 acres and was now actively seeking investors for the remaining 4,000 acres. It is one of the projects indentified for funding at the forum.
Jamaica Broilers Limited and Mussons Jamaica Ltd have agreed to finance and manage the first 1,000 acres, Brown said.
Brown said the proposal to cultivate rice in Jamaica was owing to the current situation in which grain was becoming a scare commodity to secure and the intention was for Jamaica to produce at least 10% of its domestic needs.
At present, Jamaica imports 100,000 tonnes of rice so the current objective is to produce a minimum of 10,000 tonnes a year to replace 10% of its current imports.
The rice project and others Brown mentioned were among a list of 22 projects deemed bankable from across the region and which were up for discussions in workshops yesterday.
“We have been speaking to a number of people on the production of rice, especially here in Guyana,” he said where much technical assistance was being provided.
Giving a background to the project, he said that in the 1970s and 80s, Jamaica cultivated up to 5,000 acres of rice and “we want to get back to that level of production.”
Already some infrastructure was in place, he said noting that some of the land already identified had been used for rice cultivation back in the 70s and 80s. “They are in relatively good condition. What we do not have are drying facilities so we have to buy dryers for this new project,” he said, noting, however, that Jamaica had milling facilities.
Apart from seeking investors for the remaining 4,000 acres for rice cultivation, Brown said that the agricultural investment centre, which has been mandated to develop project proposals and bankable business plans for potential investors and for marketing, was also seeking investors form a 600-acre pond shrimp project and a pepper mash and drying project. “We have identified markets for scotch bonnet pepper and we are also seeking investors to invest in this project,” he said
Sheep production is another area in which the agricultural investment centre was seeking investors.
Brown said that at present, Jamaica imports 99.7% of mutton and lamb into the island, especially for the tourism industry. “We want to replace 50% of these imports by the year 2013 and as such the government would be making lands available and other technical and infrastructural support for investors who are willing to invest in these projects.” (Miranda La Rose)
