the agriculturalist newspaper - december 2013

VOL. 24 NO. 5 • DECEMBER 2013 FREE COPY WWW.THEAGRICULTURALIST.COM

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Farmers’Almanac(2014)923-7471

LONDON (JIS):

Veteran agriculturalist and executivechairman of the Sugar Industry Au-

thority (SIA) Ambassador Derrick Heavenhas been elected Chairman for the Councilof the International Sugar Organization(ISO).

Ambassador Heaven who was on No-vember 29 elected during the meeting ofthe ISO Council in London starts his termin office on January 1, 2014.

He told JIS News that chairing the ISOwill put him in touch with events, whichare important to the sugar industry in Ja-maica.

“I will be able to speak with the moversand shakers in the international arena,” hesaid, adding that this is important given thechanges now taking place with Jamaica’smain sugar market, the European Union(EU).

As chair, Jamaica will host the nextmeeting of the ISO Council in MontegoBay in late May, and it is expected thatmore than 100 delegates will attend.

In addition to the ISO Council meeting,Ambassador Heaven attended the ISO’s22nd International Seminar on Commer-cial Success for Sugar Crops, which wasattended by some 500 international dele-gates and looked at investment, innovationand efficiency in the sugar industry.

He was also involved in the meeting ofthe United States (US)-based InternationalSugar Trade Coalition. AmbassadorHeaven told JIS News that the meeting dis-

cussed the very serious issue that has nowarisen in the US, with the oversupply ofsugar from Mexico under the North Amer-ica Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), andthe implications for other countries includ-ing Jamaica, which also exports sugar tothe US.

Ambassador Heaven is also chairmanof the board of directors of the College ofAgriculture, Science and Education(CASE)

Heaven Chairs InternationalSugar Council

College of Agriculture, Science and Education’s dean of agriculture, Dian Medley(1st l) accepts donation cheque valued at $250,000 from Newport Mills Limitedrepresentatives. Knockalva Agricultural School and Sydney Pagon AgriculturalHigh School got similar donations. The four institutions received Nutramix feedsvalued at $1 million as part of the company’s celebration of “1 million safe ton”achievement. Newport Mills’ technical personnels offer lecture to the students ondifferent aspects of livestock production and care.

Ambassador Derrick Heaven Chairman Elect Council of the International Sugar Organization

$1M SAFE TON ACHIEVEMENTS

Ebony Park Academy’s director/principal Robert M. Green (1st l) accepts donationcheque valued at $250,000 from technical sales manager, Newport Mills LimitedWinston Thomas (6th l), while students and staff look on.

2 • THE AGRICULTURALIST • DECEMBER 2013 WWW.THEAGRICULTURALIST.COM

WWW.THEAGRICULTURALIST.COM DECEMBER 2013 • THE AGRICULTURALIST • 3

EDITORIAL

November has been designated “Eat Ja-maican Month” by the Ministry of

Agriculture and Fisheries for the past tenyears. The campaign which is the brainchild of

the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS)president, Senator Norman Grant, aims atencouraging Jamaicans to consume localfoods in order to boost local agriculturalproduction.

Under the theme, "Grow what we eat;Eat what we grow," the campaign waslaunched in 2003 by former GovernorGeneral, Sir Howard Cooke who by wayof a proclamation, said the essence of this'Eat Jamaican' campaign was borne out ofa vision for us as a nation to 'grow what weeat and eat what we grow.'

The 'Eat Jamaican' campaign waslaunched at a time when Jamaica’s foodimport was at US$487 million, while farmexport stood at US$150 million and the Ja-maican dollar was experiencing significantdevaluation.

It was bad and required some solutions. The campaign which includes a yearly

event is being funded by the Ministry ofAgriculture and a few private sector com-panies.

Both Senator Grant and MinisterClarke have been consistently telling Ja-maicans to “Eat local food” in support ofthe campaign.

Nonetheless, based on our evaluation,it would appear that most Jamaicans get themessage despite a significant yearly jumpin food imports that now stands at US$1billion.

In our opinion, the “Eat Jamaican”campaign as a stand-alone strategy will notstem the influx of imported farm produce,“lift the morale of our farmers or re-awaken their appetite for production while,at the same time, attracting new and youngfarmers to the sector.”

If we are serious about reducing foodimports and increasing domestic produc-tion, the Government must consider morepractical and far-reaching strategies.

As stated in a previous editorial, theMinister of Agriculture office must takefull responsibility for the importation of allagricultural produce and selected foods inkeeping with the Government’s trade pol-icy.

The food import permit which is issuedand signed by Minister of Agriculturebased on the advice and discretion of hismarketing staff is a part of our food prob-lem.

The farming sector and other stake-holders are not regularly included or con-sulted when import permits are beingissued.

Under the current policy, it appears tobe a very private and closed-door decisionbetween the Ministry and the respectiveimporters.

As a result, cheap and sometimes poorquality farm foods are allowed to enter themarket and compete unfairly with Ja-maican farm produce.

Our domestic production output is fac-ing serious challenges. The “free-for-allimport policy” is putting excessive stresson the farmers’ ability and resources toproduce more.

The Minister should therefore considerreviewing the policy of issuing food importpermits.

We are suggesting importers appear ata public hearing to defend their permit ap-plications. The Marketing and the Eco-nomic units at the Ministry should alsoprovide the relevant empirical data to jus-tify or deny importation applications.

If the “Eat Jamaican” campaign is to besuccessful, we must fix the food importpolicy.

byPATRICK MAITLAND

Publisher -The Agriculturalist [email protected]

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 suggestionsto [email protected]. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all articles will be published.

Focal Point

OPINIONS

Devaluation- an opportunity for Jamaica’s agricultural sectorSince 1992, Jamaica has removed for-

eign exchange control, thereby allow-ing the value of its currency to bedetermined by daily market forces. This has resulted in devaluation of the Ja-

maican dollar as the country is unable tomeet the demand for its major foreign cur-rencies.

One of the major implications of deval-uation is that it makes foreign products rel-atively more expensive for domesticconsumers.

The Bank of Jamaica data shows thatthe Jamaican currency relative to the UScurrency for the period 2007 to 2012 hasdevalued by 28 percent.

The inference from this analysis indi-cates that the devaluation of the Jamaicandollar is a factor that contributes to risingfood prices in Jamaica.

However, the devaluation of the Ja-maican currency has a number of effects onlocal consumers. These factors include:higher prices for food especially importeditems or those dependent on imported in-termediate inputs such as poultry meat andbread.

Difficulty in acquiring adequate food tosatisfy daily nutritional requirement aspoultry meat is the most popular proteinsource and regular price increases will havea debilitating effect on the nation’s vulner-able, especially the less fortunate and thechildren.

Less disposable income for non-fooditems such as savings, investment, educa-tion and entertainment as this is further ag-gravated by the current wage freeze forpublic sector workers.

However, the agricultural sector mustbe used as a tool to reduce the impact of de-valuation of the Jamaican dollar on localfood prices. The Ministry of Agricultureshould seize this opportunity to increaselocal agricultural production.

Some of the areas that should be tar-geted include increase domestic food pro-duction as local produce are less sensitiveto the effects of devaluation and will be-come relatively more price competitivethan imported foods.

This can lead to increased demand forlocal produce. The Ministry of Agriculturemust move with utmost urgency to imple-ment the Agri-Parks programme as oneways to increase local food production.

In promoting the utilisation of localfoods, greater efforts must be made to in-crease the number of local produce on thelist of top ten commodities consumed byJamaicans.

For example, sweet potato is generallyregarded as the perfect food in terms of nu-trition, yet it is not included on the food list.

In addition, Jamaica has the technicalcapacity to significantly increase yams pro-duction and consumption. One vehicle thatcould be used to promote local food con-sumption is the collaboration between theMinistry of Agriculture and the other gov-ernment institutions such as the Ministry ofEducation, which has agreed to use localfruit juices in the national school feedingprogramme.

By increasing local production of inter-mediate inputs such as corn, sorghum andcassava for the production of animal feedand beer manufacturing, respectively, willreduce the impact of devaluation and costof production of the respective locally pro-duced foods.

-Wayne N Peart is an agricultural spe-cialist. He holds a BSc. in Agriculture fromthe University of the West Indies, a Diplomain Project Management (IDB trained) andhas over twenty years experience workingin various areas of agriculture in Jamaica.Peart is currently the owner and managingdirector of Garden Tech Company Ltd. Sendcomments and feedback to [email protected].

Publisher & Editor: Patrick Maitland

Advertising Executive:Tricia Reece

Consulting Editors: Vincent Wright, Jairzenho Bailey

Produced & Published by:Agri Life Foundation Ltd

AMC Complex,188 Spanish Town Road,Kingston 11, Jamaica, W.I.Tel: (876) 923-7471• 923-7428

Fax: (876) [email protected]

[email protected]

'Eat Jamaican' but Fix the Food Import Policy

By Wayne N Peart

Send your Send your

commentS commentS

or opinionSor opinionS

[email protected]

4 • THE AGRICULTURALIST • DECEMBER 2013 WWW.THEAGRICULTURALIST.COMNEWSContinu----page 1

Pesticide op-position group calls for government to ban bee-killing pesticides


NEWS

Old harbour, St. Catherine:

President of the Republic ofHaiti Michel Martelly says

two agricultural enterprises he vis-ited in Jamaica on November 15,are worth replicating in his coun-try.

The President and Minister ofAgriculture and Fisheries RogerClarke toured the Jamaica Broilersproduction facility in Spring Vil-lage, and the Government’s AgroPark in Amity Hall, both in StCatherine.

A section of the park is usedby Caribbean Broilers to growsorghum (a replacement for im-ported animal feed).

President Martelly told jour-nalists that the employment of1,600 people at the Spring Villageplant was of particular interest tohim. He also took special note thatthe enterprises reduce the need forimports.

“This is a good way to bringmoney into the country, instead ofimporting all goods,” he said.

“I was very happy to see that,and the fact that Jamaica Broilersis investing in Haiti. The enter-prise down there is much smaller,but we expect to grow bigger andallow more people to get jobs inHaiti,” the President said, whileoutlining the effort that he will bemaking to establish agro park-type

facilities in Haiti.Meanwhile, the Minister of

Agriculture said he and his Hait-ian counterpart, Jacques Thomas,have met and identified areas ofcollaboration between the twocountries.

The Haitian minister, accord-ing to Clarke, has pointed to spe-cific ways in which Jamaica canhelp their agro-sector.

“We can share our experiencewith him, and he has already notedsome of the things that he wouldlike me to move forward with him,and we are going to be workingvery closely to make sure thatsomething concrete happens,” theminister said.

President Martelly and his 11-man delegation, who were in theisland on a three-day State visit,left the island on November 15.

MEETING WITH THE LEADERS

Head of Delegation of the EuropeanUnion in Jamaica, Ambassador PaolaAmadei (3rd l) raps with Jamaica Agri-cultural Socieity (JAS) directors (l-r)Royston Johnson, 1st vice-president;Norman Grant, president; Derrick Ver-mont; and Grethel Sessing at the soci-ety’s recent monthly meeting held inKingston.

Haitian President Says Jamaica Agricultural

Enterprises Worth Copying

Michel Martelly President, Haiti

Pan-Caribbean Sugar Com-pany has forked out US30

million to replace the mill bear-ings which were stolen from theMonymusk Estate earlier thisyear.

The 26 stolen bearings, eachweighing half a ton, were valuedat J$28 million.

A statement from Pan

Caribbean said the new bearingshave arrived in the island and willbe quickly installed to ensure thetimely start of the Monymuskfactory for the 2013/2014 SugarCrop.

The company is still offeringa 100-thousand dollar reward forthe recovery of the stolen bear-ings.

Replaced mill bearings cost Pan Caribbean Sugar US$30 m


NEWS

By Judith Hunter

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agri-culture and Fisheries, Donovan Stanberry,

is appealing to consumers to “make it Ja-maican” as much as possible this holiday sea-son by consuming locally produced foods.

Speaking with JIS News, Stanberry saidthat there is an abundance of local produce forthe season. He noted that the domestic foodcrop sub-sector grew by 8.5 per cent during theJuly to September quarter and further growth isexpected for the October to December quarter.

“Yam production is at a record high, somuch so that the price has gone down consid-erably and the banana sector has reboundedafter it was severely impacted by HurricaneSandy last year. There is an abundance of bothripe and green bananas and plantains,” Stan-berry stated.

He noted further that “for the thirdyear run-ning, we have not imported a pound of pork to

make ham, which is heavily consumed duringthe Christmas season. As a matter of fact thereis an over production of pork so much so thatwe are actively pursuing export as an outlet torid ourselves of the excessive pork that has beenproduced.”

Stanberry credited the growth in the porkindustry to improved genetic material and thesupport that the Ministry has been providing tothe pig industry, as well as the huge investmentby the farmers and other stakeholders.

As it relates to egg production, he said that“we do not expect a shortage of eggs either, asthere should be sufficient to meet the demand.”

He mentioned, however, that the supply oflocally produced potato has been exhausted andthe Ministry has been importing Irish potatosince October, to supply the local market.

“But even as we continue to import, we willalso plant the fall crop. We are on target to pro-duce enough Irish potato to increase our levelof self sufficiency next year, over and above the85 per cent we attained this year,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Stanberry noted that the farm-ers markets, which were introduced about twoto three years ago, have been rationalized.“They were introduced to absorb excess pro-duction but we are way up the learning curve interms of synchronizing production with de-mand, because glut does not suit the farmer,” heexplained.

Jamaica Broilers GrossJ$1.49 B ProfitsJamaica Broilers Group's newly ac-quired US operations helped it toachieve a sizeable increase in profit dur-ing the quarter ended October 26.

Gross profits amounted to J$1.49 bil-lion up from J$1.15 billion during thecorresponding period last year.

Revenues were up J$1.4 billion dol-lars at J$7.5 billion. Jamaica Broilers' ac-quisition of England Farms Incorporatedin Arkansas and Hamilton's Smokehousein Jamaica was completed during thequarter.------------------------------------------CASE student critical followingstabbing incidentAn 18 year old student of the College

of Agriculture, Science and Educa-tion (CASE) in the eastern parish ofPortland is in critical condition after hewas stabbed on Sunday.

The police report that the student anda 21 year old had a dispute which laterescalated. During the argument a knifewas used to stab the 18 year old in theside.

The 21 year old is now in police cus-tody. The student was admitted to hospi-tal.

Enough Locally Produced Food on the Market for Christmas

From MOA, Communication & Public Relations

Jamaica has been given approval for the useof three pesticides in the post-harvesttreatment of root tubers, including yams des-tined for export to the United States of Amer-ica. This comes as a result of the Ministry ofAgriculture and Fisheries Food Safety Mod-ernization Act (FSMA) committee’s effortsin having alternative pesticides to Botran

which up to this point was the only approvedchemical for use on yams.

The pesticides are Thiabendazole,Boscalid and Pyraclostrobin. According tothe Office of Pesticide Programs, for thethree pesticides listed above, there are toler-ances established on yams for each. Thesetolerances are established by the UnitedStates Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) under the authority of the FederalFood, Drug and Cosmetic Act.

The Ministry is now undertaking efficacytests and residue determinations of these pes-ticides when used in a post-harvest manage-ment programme. Additionally, the Ministryhas sensitized over 100 fresh produce ex-porters regarding the FSMA and conductedtraining in post-harvest management.

It is important to note that the number ofyam detentions has fallen significantly froma high of 41 last year to a single detention sofar in 2013.

Three pesticides approved for post-harvest of yam in Jamaica

All Island Banana Growers Association10 South Avenue, Kingston 4

[email protected] • 922-5497

ALL-ISLAND BANANA GROWERS ASSOCIATION

Congratulates The Banana Board on their60th Anniversary Celebration

‘A true friend of the banana farmers’


BANANA BOARD(Established October 1, 1953)

10 South Avenue, Kingston 4, Jamaica W.I.Tel: 922-2083 • 967-3592

• Fax: 967-3680 • Email:

[email protected]

OUR MISSION To be the premier facilitator of the

enabling policies of the Ministryof Agriculture and Fisheries; coordi-nator and advisor to the Minister ofAgriculture and Fisheries for the in-dustry; provider of disaster manage-ment, production and applied researchservices, and organizational supportfor a vibrant industry of commerciallyviable, competitive and diversified ba-nana and plantain farmers, producingat international standards to adequatelysupply diversified markets and ulti-mately to be effectively responsive tothe needs of the farming clientele.

OUR VISIONAvibrant industry dominated by in-

ternationally certified farms; ef-fective market penetration anddevelopment; and supported by an en-abling policy framework which resultsin sustained product competitiveness;financially viable farms and the socio-economic wellbeing of communities.

Green Gold: Life, Health and the Environment

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF(l-r) Accountant Sandra Johnson, Chief Accountant Lorace Drysdale, Laboratory/Office Assis-tant Arana Andrews, Extension Data Management Secretary Linda Henry, Research Data Man-agement Secretary Grace Heholt, Procurement Officer Kedrick Randall, Corporate SecretaryCarol Parchment, Project Accountant Martha Black and General Manager Janet Conie.

TECHNICAL STAFF(Stooping l-r): Eastern St Mary Extension Officer Winford Madden, Eastern Portland ExtensionOfficer Patrick Kissoon, Plant Pathologist/Research Coordinator Deborah Henry-Myers and Lab-oratory Technician Anthony Wright. (Standing l-r): Research Station Manager Errol Steen, Tech-nology Transfer Officer Albert Watts, Western St Mary Extension Officer Desmond Edwards,Extension Coordinator Oral Lewis, St James Extension Officer Henry Graham, Western PortlandExtension Officer Alfred Evrett, Eastern St Mary Extension Officer Winford Madden, TechnologyTransfer Officer Leslie Rodney, Laboratory Technician Pauline Hinds, Chemical Analyst/Agrono-mist Elaine Garwood and Director of Research Janet Conie.


Banana Board is quietlyachieving its objectivesIt must be in God’s divine plan for the ba-nana industry, that 60 years ago, the Ba-nana Board was formed by an Act ofParliament on October 1, 1953.

It is my duty to share with you: Whatwe celebrate, why we celebrate and wherewe celebrate.

We celebrate a great public institutionthat quietly works to provide disaster man-agement, production, applied research, fruitquality management and extension servicesto the Banana Industry. The Board also pro-vides organizational support for a vibrantindustry with diversified plant varieties,products and markets.

We celebrate an organization of ordi-nary people who are called to provideextra-ordinary service. The Banana Boardwas formed to serve the banana farmers.

We celebrate because in spite of themany challenges, the Board is quietlyachieving its objectives to serve the bananafarming community.

It is not by chance that Jamaica cele-brates with the Banana Board in St Marywhere the highest banana and plantain pro-duction is achieved annually.

This parish also has the highest number

of internationally certified banana farmsand agri-businesses that are owned byfarmers who are true businessmen whohave extended the value-chain into by-products which are exported overseas andon-shore to resort hotels. Not to mentionthe tonnes consumed weekly in the metro-politan areas of Kingston, Portmore andother towns.

The Jamaican banana industry has oneof the most well managed disease controlprogrammes for bananas and plantains inthe region and the world.

Farmers in St. Mary apply no more than20 sprays per year to control Black Siga-toka disease. In other parishes where thedisease is more severe, the applicationsnever exceed 26 sprays each year. If you

believe this is high, just compare the farmsin Costa Rica, Honduras and Mexico,where farmers are spraying every 5 daysamounting to 70 applications each year.

Why the success in Jamaica? BecauseGod has blessed us with a team of scientistsand extension officers in the Board who notonly carry out research but also help farm-ers put into practice the findings and inter-national standards of production.

The officers are constantly being askedto assist other countries in the region to help

manage their Black Sigatoka and Moko dis-eases. This is a major achievement of theBanana Board.

With the demise of the export bananaindustry, many misguided economists be-lieved that the scientific production meth-ods and international certification standardsachieved by the Banana Industry would be-come obsolete and unnecessary. However,every crop now requires these standards tobe exported to North America and Europe.

By ROGERCLARKEMinister ofAgriculture

BANANA BOARD EXECUTIVE OFFICERS: (l-r) Corporate Secretary Carol Parch-ment, General Manager Janet Conie and Chief Accountant Lorace Drysdale.


The administration and operations of ap-plied and breeding research programmes,extension services and project managementwas carried out in accordance with The Na-tional Policy for the Banana Industry 2009.

The organization continues to success-fully carry out its mission in October 2013,which is:

“To be the premier facilitator of the en-abling policies of the Ministry of Agricul-ture and Fisheries; Coordinator andAdviser to the Minister of Agriculture andFisheries for the industry; provider of dis-aster management; production and appliedresearch services; and organizational sup-port for a vibrant industry of commerciallyviable, competitive and diversified bananaand plantain farmers producing at interna-tional standards to adequately supply di-versified markets and ultimately to beeffectively responsive to the needs of thefarming community”

Banana ResearchThe Research Department of the Banana

Board commenced operations on October1st 1955 with recruiting of most of the staffbeing done in 1956. The department was es-tablished to cover a wide range of investi-gations aimed at addressing two mainconcerns:

Economically viable means of produc-ing high yields of marketable count bunchesof bananas per acre during the summermonths of the year - At the request of theAll-Island Banana Growers Association di-rectors.

Reduction and control of field diseasesand diseases on fruit shipped overseas.

At the end of 1956 three divisions hadbeen established: Chemistry and Crop Phys-iology; and Agronomy Plant Pathology.

Research investigations were conductedisland wide in cooperation with bananafarmers instead of the then usual practice ofestablishing experimental research stations.The decision was influenced by the largenumber of soil types identified in the coun-try.

The laboratory of the research depart-ment was completed at the end of 1956.With the island-wide programme to replaceGros Michel, which was prone to PanamaDisease, with disease resistant Lacatan, thesituation was considered opportune for tech-nical officers to do all their work in thefield.

This work involved the design of ortho-dox fertilizer experiments to provide datafor the multiple correlations of soil analy-ses, growth and field records and fertility re-quirements of the different soils.

Given the increasing dominance of theLacatan (a Cavendish variety) 9,867,630compared to 1,348,169 Gros Michel plantsin 1956, a great deal of field records weretaken to replace past work that had beenconcerned with the Gros Michel variety.

Research subjects for the period of thereport included time of planting, pruning tri-als, study of open-handness, premature yel-lowing, detailed studies and records of theperformance of the Lacatan variety andleafspot control.

Research laboratories were upgraded inthe 1970s and it should be noted that in1977 the Banana Board Research Station atOrange River, St Mary was a fifty-five acreproperty.

The property was not irrigated and suf-fered severe drought in 1976-1977 but itprovided thirty-seven tons of fruit for export& research work; produced 13,000 suckersfor experiments and sale to farmers.

Major achievements throughout theyears have been work to improve fruit qual-ity for export with the mini wet pack systembeing possibly the most significant in recentyears. The next most significant interven-tion includes implementation of researchfindings and resistance monitoring to con-trol Sigatoka disease.

Today we can compare an average oftwenty spray applications in Jamaica to sev-enty in Costa Rica.

Other achievements have been the de-velopment of appropriate fertilizer regime,pest and disease control and the successfulintroduction of improved varieties whilecontinuing to protect the importantgermplasm at the Bodles Breeding Station.

The successful introduction of the FHIAvarieties is of great significance to thechanging production and marketing envi-ronment for the Jamaican banana industryand the new strategy being implemented forits improvement.

The Mini Wet Pack, accompanied by ef-fective bunch care such as early deflower-

ing, had the following advantages over ear-lier systems and compared with the DryPack system, resulted in significantly lowerlevels of latex staining and crown dis-colouration.

The system produces fruit of good qual-ity and cannot be distinguished from fruitprocessed in centralized wet packing sys-tems.

Some of the advantages are: low capitalinvestment; in the event of increased levelsof post-harvest diseases, facility in place toapply a prophylactic treatment; small farm-ers, at that time, were able to benefit fromadvantages of pricing systems based onquality without being affected by coopera-tive packing arrangements; and suitable forfarms with limited water supply.

The work of the Research Department inthe improved management of the BlackSigatoka disease has resulted in the controlof the disease in Jamaica being 5–18 percentof production cost as compared to CostaRica where it is percent of production cost.

Other Banana Board Activities1963-The replacement of the bunch

system of purchasing bananas for export incartons in 1963, resulted in the need tobuild boxing plants away from railway sta-tions and closer to fields from which ba-

nanas were selected, dehanded, washed,treated with fungicide and packed in car-ton boxes and placed in refrigerated condi-tions on ships. Some plants were operatedby the Banana Board and others by Inde-pendent growers1995-Priority areas for attention iden-

tified as: Cultivation Management underthree levels of technology to improve vol-umes of exportable fruits. Bunch care andpost-harvest handling. Pest managementwith emphasis on leaf spot, nematodes andbanana borers. Introduction of new vari-eties.2008-GLOBALGAP & Fair Trade cer-

tification. Recapitalization of farms posthurricanes & storms – 2004 to 2011.2010 to Present-Implementation of the

Technical Service Contract under the Eu-ropean Union Banana Support Programme,technical support for value added industry,certification of farms and collection of dataon domestic market.

Certified Total Quality Management(TQM) systems /standards implementedand related protocols provided and formajor diseases, pests and agronomic prac-tices provided.

Maintenance of more than 150 varieties& establishment of nurseries for FHIA.

The introduction of the FHIA bananaand plantain varieties highly tolerant toBlack Sigatoka and nematodes and resist-ant to the Panama disease “killer of bananatrees”. This has resulted in high demandfor the FHIA varieties and low demand forother varieties.

This variety results increased cost effi-ciencies of more than 30 percent and willform the basis for increasing productionand the development of the value-addedbusinesses in Jamaica which are currentlysupplied by imports.

The banana is said to be the perfectfood. Others believe the banana was “thefruit” which caused Adam and Eve to beousted from the Garden of Eden. Currently,it is the second most marketable fruitworld-wide and one over which many warsare fought in the New World and Europe,without the spilling of blood.

In Jamaica we must not forget that itwas the banana industry that provided thebasis for economic development for inde-pendent Jamaica. Today even with the sus-pension of exports to Europe, bananas andplantains remain significant to our food se-curity and source of income in six parishesin Jamaica.

The Banana Board has always been astabilizing force when the industry experi-enced shocks of various forms throughoutour history. It fulfilled its mandate in theearly years after its formation in 1953 andat other important cross-roads in our his-tory. The Banana Board is called uponwhen the industry needs to be revitalized.

The Government of Jamaica is confi-dent that the Board will continue to inno-vate and pursue excellence in carrying outits mission to serve the banana and plan-tain stakeholders.

Achievements and Opportunities in the banana industry! The Banana Board is implementing the National Adaptation Strategy which was re-

vised in 2012 and aimed at revitalizing the industry through the development of thevalue-added banana and plantain industry and to increase demand locally, while main-taining international standards of production, food health and safety.

By Donovan Stanberry, Permanent Secretary, MOA & Chairman, Banana Board

Recently planted Demo plot with FHIA risistant variety- Daniel Barnet farm Pem-broke Hall St Mary.


Agri Life Foundation has been established as a non-profit organization to foster and encourage farmers to become

more self-sufficient and competitive in a free market economy. One of the main ways that the Foundation will achieve these goalsis through collaboration, professional support and advisoryfrom experts in the field. Such collaboration will provide

a platform where individuals from academia, business, government, and the farming community can share research-based information and technology regarding environmentally sound management and profitable agricultural production practices.

For further information:Patrick Maitland

Executive ChairmanAgri Life Foundation

188 Spanish Town Road,Kingston 11, Jamaica WITel: 923-7471; 923-7428 • [email protected] www.agrilifefoundation.org


MARKET & TRADE NEWS

According to reports from Eu-romonitor International, rising

demand for dark chocolate, whichrequires a higher cocoa content, isdriving up cocoa prices, with Chinain the forefront of rising demandfor dark chocolate.

Some 34% of the retail value ofchocolate in China comes fromplain dark chocolate, up from amere 7% in 2008. China for sometime has been tipped as a majorarea for growth in chocolate con-sumption. According to industryanalysts, “China represents a strongopportunity but products must be

tailored to fit the market.”Dark chocolate consumption is

also rising in other major markets.In Switzerland, some 30% ofchocolate consumed is now darkchocolate, up from 8% in 2008,while in the US dark chocolate nowaccounts for 19.9% of retail sales.

The growth in the use of cocoain dark chocolate comes against abackground of worries over cocoasupplies arising from productionsetbacks in West Africa, resultingfrom poor rainfall in Ghana, Côted’Ivoire and Cameroon. This hasseen varied projections of the scale

of the pending cocoa deficit rang-ing from the International CocoaOrganization’s 52,000 tonnes,through 173,000 tonnes (industryanalysts Macquarie), to as high as

209,000 tonnes (US-based Knowl-edgeCharts).

These concerns led analysts inSeptember to project that cocoaprices would stay “well supportedin the six-to-12 month period”. Ac-cording to Macquarie, US proces-sors are “‘running close to fullcapacity’ well ahead of the tradi-tional high demand periods of Hal-loween and Christmas”. This isheld to reflect a process of stock re-building by chocolate makers in theface of “rising overseas demand”.

Meanwhile, according to thewebsite Agrimoney.com, “proces-

sors’ coverage of cocoa bean sup-plies has ‘fallen to uncomfortablylow levels’, as non-commercial in-vestors have tied up the supplies tobe gained from futures markets.”

Overall, according to GoldmanSachs, “cocoa has been one of thebest-performing commodities ofthe summer.” However, whileprices have risen 15% since March2013, they were still 5.3% belowthe levels in September 2012, andbelow price levels from March2009 and November 2011, whichsaw peaks in January 2010 ofUS$3,520/tonne.

Increases in chocolate and cocoa consumption

Czarnikow, which three months ago shookup the sugar market by pegging demand

well above market estimates, hardened itsstance, saying consumption growth may re-main at higher rates.

Growth in global sugar demand, whichaverage more than 3% in the five years to2008, had slowed to 1% three years later – amajor factor in dragging New York futuresdown from a 30-year high of 36.08 cents apound reached in February 2011.

The average growth rate in sugar con-sumption in 2009-11 was just 1.3% a year –not much faster than world population growthwhich is a big driver of baseline demand.

However, this slowdown may prove atemporary hiccup, caused by the world eco-nomic slowdown and the elevated sugarprices – both of which have reversed.

Trigger of civil disturbances'"The global financial crisis was detrimen-

tal to consumption growth rates as economicgrowth slowed, but in sugar the effect waseven more acute as the market entered a three-year period of production deficits and highprices," the London-based group said.

"This impacted on supply chains. In NorthAfrica a shortage in the availability of essen-tial commodities, including sugar, became a

trigger leading to civil disturbances and theevents of the Arab Spring."

However, with prices lower, and popula-tion growth alone adding nearly 2m tonnes ayear to sugar consumption, "we remain confi-dence that the long-term outlook for demandremains positive", Czarnikow said.

"We will see a rebound in growth rates atcurrent lower prices."

Price implicationsThis acceleration would appear in fact to

imply support to sugar values, given their lowlevel compared with production costs, al-though Czarnikow stopped short of making aprice forecast.

Toby Cohen, Czarnikow director said:"With consumption growth proving robustand the world market moving back towardsequilibrium the market needs to sustain pro-duction and cover total production costs aswell as pay a return to shareholders.

"This remains a challenge."Worst hit regions

The extent of the 2009-11 slowdown inconsumption growth had been evident in par-ticular in Asia, the Middle East and NorthAfrica, the merchant added.

In Asia, the annual growth fell from a rateof 4.7%, in the decade up to 2008, to 1.5%.

Stronger world sugar demand 'here to stay'


By Douglas McIntosh

Anew sorrel harvesting machine, whichcould significantly boost local pro-

duction, was unveiled at the offices of theRural Agricultural Development Authority(RADA), Ministry of Agriculture and Fish-eries, Hope Gardens, in St. Andrew, on No-vember 12.

The machine, which was developed bySt. Elizabeth farmers and entrepreneurs,Oral and Allison Turner, is designed to,among other things, increase the volume ofsorrel harvested, while reducing the timeand manpower needed to do so.

Agriculture and Fisheries Minister,Roger Clarke, who was among the personswitnessing the unveiling of the prototype,endorsed it as a welcomed innovation, ca-pable of revolutionizing and enhancing thesorrel sub-sector.

“I am pleased to see this. A machinelike this (once) properly put in place andrunning efficiently…will enable us to getthe volume of sorrel that we need,” he said.

Noting that the sorrel industry’s poten-tial is “enormous”, Clarke said maximumoutputs can only be achieved if technologyis incorporated into the harvesting process.“We have been working to see how (best)we can develop the industry,” the Ministernoted, citing a plant that was recently com-missioned into service in Westmoreland.

He commended the Turners for theirdetermination to improve on the machine’sinitial design, which the Minister said was“impressive.”

“You could see the entrepreneurialspirit exuding from them. I told them thatthe Ministry and I would be there with(them) all along the way,” the Ministersaid. “The step that you have taken, youhave to be congratulated. And I want to sayto you that RADA is there to support you,and the Ministry of Agriculture standsready to give whatever support that we canto make sure that this venture succeeds,”

Clarke added.Meanwhile, Senior Director for

RADA’s Technology, Training and Techni-cal Services Division, Marina Young, saidthe agency has been working closely withthe Turners to provide the necessary link-ages that can best facilitate the machine’sadvancement to the stage where it can befully streamlined for commercial use.

“It is very important for RADA thatsorrel production consistently increases,because it is a tremendous crop. However,there are a lot of constraints in terms of thecost of production, especially labour,which is required to (harvest) sorrel. If weare to look at the production of sorrel incommercial quantities and to increase thevolume, not only for local consumption,but for export, there is no way we can han-dle it (harvesting) by manual labour,” shenoted.

In this regard, Young said RADA is an-ticipating that the Turners will be success-ful in efforts to introduce their innovationinto the industry.

For his part, RADA’s Chief ExecutiveOfficer, Lenworth Fulton, described themachine’s development as “one other stepin the right direction in agriculture.”

“It is one step further up the valuechain; one step in making our agriculturemore efficient; and one step in gettingmore farmers involved and getting morefor their (dollar), by using technology todrive the sector,” he said.

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Local Sorrel Harvesting Machine Unveiled

The sorrel harvesting machine devel-oped by farmer and entrepreneur, Alli-son Turner and husband, Oral Turner.

Inventors and direc-tors of the companyOral & Allison Turnerstarted this project in2010. Mr. Turnerowns and operates afarm store supplyinglocal farmers with avariety of farmingproducts.

One day a cus-tomer told Oral that he had to abandon alarge crop of sorrel because of the highlabor costs associated with removing theseed. Immediately Oral decided there mustbe a feasible solution to this problem andstarted to study the plant.

For the next three months he broughtsorrel buds home every day. Eveningswere spent having long discussions andidea exchanges with Allison. After stayingup late every night in the garden playingwith different methods, Oral simply camein one evening with the calyces flesh in onehand and the seed in the next stating, "I'vedone it!'

Allison fondly remembers having topick up discarded sorrel from all over thehouse, and endured missing utensils,kitchen stools, brooms, and other house-hold items as they disappeared into the in-vention. Oral firmly believes that to find asolution to a problem you must fully studyand understand the subject. Only whenyou know everything about it can youbegin to envision the answers you need tomaster it.

Oral & AllisonTurner

By Jan Suszkiw

ARS scientists and their collaboratorshave developed new garden-and dry-

pea breeding lines that are resistant toAphanomyces root rot, a disease that cancause crop yield losses of 20 to 100 percent.

The mold-like pathogen that causes thedisease, Aphanomyces euteiches, infects theroots and underground stems of susceptiblepea plants and other legumes, rotting themand causing stunted growth, lesions, wiltedleaves and other symptoms. Fungicidesaren't an option, so growers must eitheravoid planting in fields with a history of thedisease or switch to growing non-host cropsuntil pathogen numbers drop to acceptablelevels.

However, avoidance and crop rotationmay not always be economically feasible.Furthermore, breeding peas for resistance toAphanomyces has proven difficult becausemultiple genes are involved, according toRebecca McGee, a plant geneticist withUSDA's Agricultural Research Service(ARS), USDA's principal intramural scien-tific research agency.

The resistance genes are also associatedwith undesirable traits, which cultivated va-rieties can inherit when crossed with wildgermplasm sources, adds McGee, at theARS Grain Legume Genetics PhysiologyResearch Unit in Pullman, Wash.

__________________________________

As an alternative, McGee, ARS geneti-cist Clare Coyne and other colleaguessought to develop pea germplasm lines thatnaturally tolerate the pathogen, but do notsuffer the same ill effects as susceptibleplants—particularly not significant yieldlosses. Coyne is with the ARS PlantGermplasm Introduction and Testing Re-search Unit, also in Pullman.

Disease-Resistant Peas Developed For Release

A pea seedling resistant toAphanomyces root rot among thosethat are not. Photo, Rebecca McGee,ARS.


Refined SugarsRefined sugar products should be avoided.Sugar-containing foods used to be a rare treatkept for holidays and special occasions. Nowthey are on our plates every day. Refined sug-ars quickly raise one's blood sugar level, initi-ating a surge of insulin release. Blood sugar isquickly lowered, producing hypoglycemia anda need to eat more sugar.

Foods with Added SodiumCured meats such as ham are high in sodium.This encompasses nearly all processed food.The culprit is not just salt but the sodium ion.Canned soups and baked beans, cured meats(like bacon, ham, hot dogs, sausages and lunchmeats), chips and snack foods are high insodium. Baked goods contain both salt andsodium leavening agents. Many processedfoods have sodium preservatives. Excesssodium can raise blood pressure and result inwater retention.

Foods High in Omega-6 Fatty AcidsCorn oil contains linoleic acid. According toDr. Artemis Simopoulos in "The Omega Diet,"increased consumption of omega-6 oils con-taining linoleic acid likely contributes to in-creased rates of cancer, obesity, depression,insulin resistance, allergies and autoimmunediseases. Oils to avoid include corn oil, saf-flower oil, sunflower oil, peanut oil, cottonseedoil, sesame oil, grapeseed oil, borage oil andprimrose oil.

Foods with Trans FatMost crackers and snack foods contain

trans fats. Trans fats can lead to heart disease-

-and they are everywhere. Margarine and hy-drogenated shortenings, packaged bakingmixes, soup mixes, frozen foods, fast foods,commercial baked goods, crackers, chips,breakfast foods and cereal bars, toppings, dipsand salad dressings all contain trans fats.

Unwashed Fruits and VegetablesWash fruits and vegetables to remove possiblecontaminants. Fresh fruits and vegetables aregood diet additions, but they should be prop-erly prepared. Washing gets rid of contami-nants from field chemicals, fungal spores,bacterial contaminants, insect contaminantsand waxes and products applied to prolongstorage life or improve appearance.

Drinks with CaffeineThe caffeine in coffee can cause health prob-lems. Cola drinks and some sodas, coffees, teasand hot chocolates contain caffeine. Overusecan give rise to anxiety, panic, irregular heartbeats, increased stomach acid production, fa-tigue and headaches.

Artificially Sweetened FoodsArtificially sweetened drinks have potentialhealth concerns. Artificial sweeteners such asaspartame and saccharin have drawbacks orpotential health concerns. Many people toler-ate them without side effects, but people sen-sitive to aspartame can show increased anxiety,nervousness and an increased heart beat.

Refined Flours and GrainsWhite breads don't have the nutritive value

of whole grain breads. Refined flours andgrains lack the husk, which contains most of

the nutritive value. They contribute to higherblood sugar levels because they are more eas-ily broken down into sugars and do not con-tribute to fiber in the diet. Avoid white flour,white rice and refined grain pastas and mixes.

AlcoholAn excess of alcohol can cause serious healthproblems. When consumed in excess, alcoholcan worsen anxiety, mood swings and femalehealth problems such as menopausal symp-toms as well as increase hypoglycemia. It canlead to liver malfunction or damage, destroybrain cells and increase susceptibility to yeastinfections.

Fast FoodFast foods have been implicated in weight gainand insulin resistance. Fast foods contain transfats, high sodium levels, refined sugars and re-fined grains. They often contain monosodiumglutamate, which causes problems for somepeople.

Foods to AvoidABOUT AIDSNo Cure

There is currently no cure for AIDS orHIV infection. Although antiretroviral

treatment can suppress HIV – the virus thatcauses AIDS – and can delay illness formany years, it cannot clear the virus com-pletely.

However, there is hope and optimismaround the possibility of a genuine cure forHIV being developed within the next fewdecades. The launch of a new strategy todevelop a cure, involving scientists, policymakers, funders and people living withHIV, in July 2012, marked an increasedfocus on the development of a cure as a po-tential approach to curbing the HIV andAIDS epidemic.

Why is it so difficultto cure HIV and AIDS?

Curing AIDS is generally taken to meanclearing the body of HIV, the virus thatcauses AIDS. The virus replicates (makesnew copies of itself) by inserting its geneticcode into human cells, particularly a typeknown as CD4 cells. Usually the infectedcells produce numerous HIV particles anddie soon afterwards. Antiretroviral drugsinterfere with this replication process,which is why the drugs are so effective atreducing the amount of HIV in a person’sbody to extremely low levels. During treat-ment, the concentration of HIV in theblood often falls so low that it cannot bedetected by the standard test, known as aviral load test.

Contact your doctor.

NutriCareBy

Gloria Bent, MS, RD, CDNNutritionist

Questions &[email protected]


Newport Mills LimitedMyers Wharf, Newport EastKingston 15, Jamaica, W.I.

T: +1 876.922.2606 • F: +1 876.922.2599 [email protected]

Newport Mills Limited is the manufacturer of NUTRAMIX® feeds.We are one of the largest animal feed manufacturers in Jamaica and the Caribbean

.We supply the NUTRAMIX® brand of poultry, pig, goat, dairy, horse and other feeds

relevant to the animal’s life stage in the form of meal, crumbles or pellets

Chose with the peace of mind that qualitystandards of ISO 9001, HACCP and GMP certified give.

NUTRITION WITHOUT COMPROMISE

the agriculturalist newspaper - december 2013

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