KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries Karl Samuda says he intends to promote the use of hydroponic operations to grow crops such as vegetables in inner-city communities, in an effort to get them engaged in the agricultural sector as well as provide them with employment.

According to a news release from the ministry, this would not only provide food for the community, but with the use of high-quality seeds, the medium could expand, providing them with enough to sell to the wider community and even for export.

Samuda was speaking at a stakeholders’ seminar organised by Jamaica Floral Products Limited/Evergrow Garden Center and Lambert Peat Moss Inc at the Caymanas Golf and Country Club in St Catherine on Tuesday, where he stressed the importance of using new and modern techniques to create wealth.

The agriculture minister described agriculture as the cornerstone that will spur significantly higher economic growth for Jamaica, and said the utilisation of proper field management systems was one way of ensuring that the quality of the crops cultivated, particularly for export, meets international standards.

“If we engage ourselves in a modern and constructive way, we can really make strides. We have to get to the stage where we cut our import bill of food supplies dramatically, because it is only by doing this that we are going to be able to retain the foreign exchange that comes in through other export areas,” he said.

He lauded the ministry’s Research and Development Division and the Scientific Research Council for working with and educating farmers on appropriate soil use and the importance of cultivating high-quality seedlings.

The seminar was held under the theme ‘High Quality Growing Media at the Root of High Quality Seedling Growth and Crop Production’, and was aimed at sharing technical information with farmers on preparations for producing high-quality seedlings.