USDA project offering grants for sustainable spice production
Published:Tuesday | February 13, 2024 | 12:12 AMAsha Wilks/Gleaner Writer
This week will see the issuance of a second call for proposal submissions under the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food for Progress Jamaica Spices (JaSPICE) project.
Researchers, farmers, input suppliers to the industry, youth, women, and all other stakeholders are eligible to submit applications for the grants, the maximum value of which is US$4,000.
Dr Ronald Blake, chief of party at the Agricultural Cooperative Development International/Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance, told The Gleaner on Monday that submissions will be welcomed in areas of prioritisation impacting the spice industry.
The project has four components and eight activities.
The first activity focuses on growing nurseries and offering clean planting material to the spice industry.
Activity two focuses on research and development for disease resistance and climate-smart agriculture by identifying disease-tolerant, drought-resistant, or heat-tolerant lines of ginger, turmeric, and pimento and develop an early warning system that will be incorporated into an integrated pest management programme.
The fourth activity will focus on sustainable pimento, ginger, and turmeric production. Here, issues related to the technology to be used for post-harvesting, input supplies, and land preparation will be examined.
The JaSPICE project, which was officially launched in 2023 and is scheduled to conclude in 2027, aims to support Jamaica’s goal of revitalising its spices industry.
This will be accomplished by assisting Jamaica to meet its current local and global demands for pimento, ginger, and turmeric.
“One of the things I want Jamaicans to pay attention to is the fact that the three spices that we are focusing on ... are all classified as superfoods. They are not only good for your food, but they are also good for your medicine, and they are largely being used in pharmaceuticals as well as nutraceuticals and so the need and the demand for these spices will always continue to grow,” Blake explained.
“So, what we want to do is to be able to increase the amount of clean planting material that is available to the sector. We want to ramp up production and also to build capacity in processors [and] in people who are exporting so that we can have a far more robust spices sector,” he said.
Applications can be made at www.acdivoca.org/.
Interested persons may also check the websites of the project’s local partners – the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining; the Rural Agricultural Development Authority; the Jamaica Agricultural Commodities Resources Authority; the Jamaica 4-H Clubs; the Jamaica Promotions Corporation; and the Scientific Research Council.