THE Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries on Tuesday received equipment, valued at $60 million, from the People's Republic of China to aid in its rice production programme.
The equipment, which includes tractors, harvesters, transplanters, wagons, boom sprayers and trucks, were handed over by China's Ambassador to Jamaica Chen Jinghua to Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Dr Christopher Tufton at a ceremony at the Agro-Investment Corporation in Kingston.
According to Tufton, the donation will go a far way in helping to revive the sector.
"We are very happy for this donation and the expertise that has come with it... to train our people in terms of maintaining the equipment," Dr Tufton said.
The agriculture ministry recently embarked on a programme to revitalise rice production in Jamaica with a target to cut the country's annual importation of 100,000 tonnes of rice by at least 25 per cent over a five-year period.
As part of the programme, commercial-scale production has commenced in several parishes, with approximately 12 farmers now growing rice. Also, there are about eight prospective major investors for whom land is being sought for rice production.
"We want to see if we can grow some of the things that we traditionally depend on from others who would grow that crop, and rice is a logical choice. Of a food import bill of US$800 million last year, $40 million of that is a fairly substantial percentage for just one product," said Tufton.
He urged pundits of the rice revival programme to believe in the project's worth and assured them that the Jamaican government will give its full backing to the success of rice production.
"The time has come for us to do what is good for Jamaica and not necessarily what everybody else is doing. I think this project is worth believing in. Rice can be grown in Jamaica, grown commercially, and grown in a way that can ensure viability and allow everyone to make something out of it," Tufton said.
