Despite
what the Ministry of Agriculture has to say about growth, very little has
actually occurred in the Agriculture sector thanks to the Drought of 2015!
Claims
of 3.3% growth in the third Quarter of 2015 are most likely true as stated by
Minister of Agriculture
Derrick Kellier, as the drought has stunted Jamaica's Agricultural growth
potential as noted in the article “Agriculture Sector
Remains Buoyant”, published November 26, 2015 By Garfield L. Angus, The Jamaica Information Service.
He
made these comments at the Jamaica 4-H Clubs headquarters in St. Andrew on
November 25, 2015 and also outlined plans for Jamaica's Agricultural sector:
1.
JA$3.4 billion has been spent on farm
theft prevention systems and animal health
2.
JA$2 billion invested in irrigation in
agro-parks and farming areas
3.
JA$216 million to revitalise the banana
industry
Another
JA$400 million is to be spent over the next four years on Bananas as the
Ministry of Agriculture is apparently encouraged by the increase in export
activity to the United Kingdom.
But
nothing has been mention about measures to be taken to prevent the
re-occurrence of the Drought of 2015.
Jamaican Food Shortage
of 2015 – Why Pork, Chicken, Eggs and Sorrel to be expensive or in Short supply
this Christmas
So
let’s start by listing out all the current shortage in food that Jamaica can
produce. This Christmas, a lot of Jamaican foods that we traditionally enjoy
will be in short supply.
Pork
has been in short supply since the start of April 2015, so expect prices for
the meat to be high come Christmas Day as noted in my blog article
entitled “Jamaican
Pig Farmers say Pork Shortage over but Meat Processors worried – Why Possible
Pork Price Profits for Pig Farmers this Christmas 2015”.
Chicken
is also short ever since the Ministry of agriculture has banned Chicken from
Canada and USA due to the H5N2 Virus as noted in my blog article
entitled “Ministry
of Agriculture bans US, Canadian Chicken Products - Why H5N2 Avian Flu is
Shadows of 2014 Chicken Shortage during Easter 2015”.
Eggs
are now in short supply, albeit supplies are ramping up for the Christmas to
the point that we're exporting to other Caribbean countries as noted in my blog article
entitled “Jamaica
Egg Industry boost Production for Christmas 2015 - Why H5N2 Avian Flu in USA
and Canada boosting Caribbean Christmas Market”.
In
fact, supplies are so short that unscrupulous persons have found it profitable
to recover confiscated chicken and Eggs from the Riverton city Dump and resell
it in the Downtown Market as reported in my blog article
entitled “How
Discarded Meat from Riverton City Dump is still being sold in Downtown Kingston”.
So
what about Sorrel? It's also short too as noted in my blog article
entitled “Why
Great Jamaica Sorrel Shortage of 2015 caused by increasing yearly demand - How
Turner Innovations Sorrel picking machine might save Christmas 2015”.
In
fact, it's so short to the point that it may have cause Prime Minister Portia
Simpson Miller to cancel the General Elections as explained in my blog article
entitled “How
Math, Sorrel Shortage of 2015, Dead Babies Scandal and Younger Voters stopped
Jamaica's General Election 2015”.
The Great Drought of
2015 – Expect foods price increases come Easter of 2016
So
love it or hate it, the problems being experienced by Jamaica's agricultural
sector due to the Drought of 2015 will be felt and noticed not only in terms of
the shortage of certain food items in Christmas, but by the higher than normal
prices of most foods by Easter 2016!
Already
the Minister of agriculture has called upon all Farmers to register with RADA
(Rural Agricultural Development Authority) so that Jamaican can better plan for
2016 as noted in the article “Farmers
urged to register with RADA”, published Sunday, December 06, 2015, The Jamaica Observer.
Hopefully
the Ministry of Agriculture, which now has the full attention of Derrick
Kellier, will focus on recycling water from sewage as well as rainwater
recycling to be used for drinking purposes as well as irrigation as suggested
in my blog
article entitled “Water
Wastage at MICO - How Waste Water Recycling and Rainwater Harvesting benefits
Agriculture”.
We
also need to find ways to more efficiently use our surface water that flows in
rivers and streams as well as well as develope more plants that are resistant
to salt and can be grown using seawater such as CARDI (Caribbean Agriculture
Research and Development Institute)'s Dasheen plant as noted in my blog article
entitled “How
CARDI's Salt Water loving Dasheen and Agricultural Towers can help Pacific
islands and Jamaica during Drought”.
We
also need to upgrade out irrigation system as clearly those old pipes cannot
the pressure fluctuations due to the uneven water supply as noted in the
article “Jamaica’s
aging water systems falter under intense heat and drought”, published
November 18th 2015, Caribbean 360.
Hopefully,
in 2016, we would have begun to solve the water supply problem and work on
water Distribution problem before the Drought of 2016 comes around once more.
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