Ministry, manufacturer explore cheaper fertiliser options

Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Floyd Green has directed the management of Newport Fersan, the country’s sole manufacturer of fertiliser, to report to him in a week’s time on possible adjustments that can be made to provide cheaper products for farmers.

At a press briefing on Wednesday, Green said that he had identified high input costs, including fertiliser and rising feed costs, as the major threats to the country’s food security and projection outputs.

“I want to assure the farmers that we are taking the matter of input cost very seriously,” he said, disclosing that he had met with a team from Newport Fersan to see what was driving up costs and explore possibilities to bring back down the cost of fertiliser, especially.

“... I have asked them to take a week and get back to me, and we will update the nation on what is going to happen regarding fertiliser costs. I’ve also asked the ministry’s team to meet with our various livestock associations in relation to feed costs and to see how we can do some direct interventions to at least soften the burden of these increased costs,” he said.

Green said that the providers told him that the increased costs of inputs on local market were being driven by events on the global market, with some of their costs going up by as much as 100 per cent, in addition to the doubling of freight charges.

“It is a challenging scenario, but I want our farmers and fishers to know that we are going to be working with the input providers to see how we can ease that burden,” he added.

The minister, however, failed to say if he had contacted two of the country’s major feed distributors, Caribbean Broilers and Jamaica Broilers.

He lamented that the recent devastation brought on by severe weather, especially to banana fields in eastern Jamaica, had interrupted an impressive agricultural growth trajectory.

Vegetables, condiments, and bananas have all shown production increases.

christopher.serju@gleanerjm.com