Farmers urged to cultivate available gov't land

Minister without Portfolio in the agriculture ministry, J.C. Hutchinson, is hoping a new irrigation system in South Manchester will encourage farmers to begin cultivating five thousand acres of land available from the Government.

Hutchinson says while the five thousand acres of arable land have been available to farmers, they have been reluctant to cultivate it because of limited irrigation access.

However, farmers in the New Forest-Duff House Agro Park in Manchester now have improved irrigation access following the commissioning of a $30.3 million industrial pump to serve the area.

The facility was jointly funded by the World Bank, through its Rural Economic Development Initiative being implemented by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund, and the National Irrigation Commission.

Hutchinson has welcomed the new facility’s commissioning, noting that the South Manchester/South St Elizabeth region was a traditionally dry area.

In this regard, he said the new facility would contribute to increasing the volume of production 10-fold by bringing irrigation to the beneficiaries.