the agriculturalist -april 2012

8/2/2019 The Agriculturalist -April 2012

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VOL.23 NO. 7 APRIL 2012 FR EE COPY WWW.THEAGRICULTURALIST.COM

365-2054

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

[email protected]

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

[email protected]

[email protected]

Poultry producers need protection from imports

SEND YOUR COMMENTSSEND YOUR COMMENTS

OR OPINIONSOR OPINIONS

[email protected]


4/15


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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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


5/15


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


6/15



7/15


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


8/15

WWW.THEAGRICULTURALIST.COM APRIL 2012 THE AGRICULTURALIS


9/15

NEWS


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

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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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the agriculturalist -april 2012

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