Gov’t adds $50 million to drought response as farm production falls 15%

The Government is injecting an additional $50 million into its drought intervention programme as dry conditions continue to affect farmers and contribute to an estimated 15 per cent decline in agricultural production. Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Floyd Green, announced the additional funding as he provided an update on measures being implemented to cushion the agricultural sector from the effects of the drought during a press briefing at the ministry’s head office on Tuesday. The new allocation will be targeted primarily at water storage and drip irrigation systems, as the ministry seeks to help farmers capture and use available water more efficiently. “The rain is coming, but we want to ensure that the farmers are using the water efficiently,” Green said. The additional intervention follows a $149-million drought mitigation programme announced in May after forecasts indicated that the country was heading into an especially dry period. Under that programme, Green said $60.25 million was provided through Members of Parliament, another $15 million was allocated to the National Irrigation Commission (NIC) to support water trucking, while $60 million was provided to the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) for drought-response activities. RADA has since trucked approximately 1,900 loads of water to farming communities across eight priority parishes, including St Thomas, Portland, St Mary, Westmoreland, Clarendon, St Catherine, St Elizabeth and Manchester. The agency has also distributed water tanks and micro-irrigation drip kits to farmers in affected communities. Meanwhile, Green said the NIC has trucked 2.82 million gallons of water free of cost to farmers, particularly within irrigation areas in St Elizabeth, Trelawny, St Ann and Manchester. Pumping hours have also been extended, with some irrigation systems now operating for up to 16 hours daily. Despite those interventions, the minister said Jamaica’s heavy dependence on rainfall leaves agricultural production particularly exposed during prolonged dry periods. “The reality, however, is that 70 per cent of our farmers do depend on the rainfall for them to have productive activity. So when there is a lack of rainfall, what often happens is that the farmers reduce the size of the plots under production so that they can better manage,” Green explained. As a result, the ministry has recorded an estimated 15 per cent downturn in production during the drought period. As part of long term solutions, the Government is also moving to establish additional water catchment ponds in productive farming communities. Green said RADA has been provided with an additional $60 million for that initiative, with approximately 25 areas identified for intervention and excavation already started in some locations. The catchments are intended to store rainfall for later use by farmers, particularly in areas with high levels of agricultural production. Green said the ministry has also trained 1,760 farmers in water management, soil-moisture conservation, drought-tolerant crop varieties, planting decisions and the management of heat stress in crops and livestock. He further noted that farmers are expected to begin receiving water from the Essex Valley irrigation system by the end of September. Green described the project as the largest irrigation investment of its kind in Jamaica and the Caribbean. Approximately 300 farmers have already applied for access to water from the system, with 40 having paid and expected to be among the first to receive supplies. At the Amity Hall/Bridge Pen development, Green said 200 acres are being cleared after 22 leases were distributed to agricultural entrepreneurs. The land is being cleared at no cost to the leaseholders so production can begin once water becomes available. The minister also urged farmers to organise themselves into groups, noting that this would make it easier for RADA and other government agencies to provide training and other forms of assistance. Green said changing climate conditions also require producers to rethink traditional farming practices, including the design of livestock and poultry facilities to mitigate heat stress. He said the drought demonstrates the need for Jamaica to continue investing in irrigation, water storage and other climate-resilient agricultural infrastructure. “As we move forward, we're taking a multi-faceted approach to try to ensure that we have a sufficiency of food as we go into the Christmas period. One of the good things is that the government has been expanding its irrigation footprint, and the best way to counteract drought is to provide farmers with a reliable source of water,” Green said.