Taking up where his predecessor left off, new Agriculture Minister Dr Christopher Tufton has set himself on collision course with Jamaica’s sole manufacturer of fertiliser, over rapidly escalating prices that have hurt farmers.

Anxious to push down the fertiliser prices, Tufton demanded that fertiliser producer, Newport Fersan present him with proposals to deal with increased prices by Wednesday of this week.

Tufton also hinted to the Observer at the weekend that he would consider seeking cheaper fertiliser inputs from countries like Canada and Venezuela, unless local means of keeping prices down could be achieved.

The minister met Friday with representatives of Newport Fersan and expressed concern about the escalating prices which, he said, had been as high as 75 per cent.

“I have asked them to come back with any suggestion they may have to deal with the problem, by Wednesday,” Tufton said.

However, in response to similar sentiments expressed by former agriculture minister, Roger Clarke, in July, John Allen, general manager of Newport Fersan, said that the quest to find cheaper overseas sources might not be as easy as it sounded.

“In the first instance, I have my doubts whether it’s going to be possible for them to find cheaper sources. But, we have to keep an eye on whoever it is that intends to import fertilisers into the island, because that would impact on our capacity to produce and produce economically,”Allen warned then.

“We have had to increase prices because of the continuing increases in the raw material prices. The government along with others are concerned about the continuous increase in prices, and we just want the public to know that it’s not as a consequence of the fact that we are the only manufacturers on the island now (or) that we are abusing this particular position but that all the increases are justified,” he told the Observer.

“The problem there is that the producers of the fertiliser raw material have not caught up with the demand that is out there and that is driving the prices,” he explained.

Allen insisted that prices were not going to be falling anytime soon, because the increases in raw material prices would continue over two to three years, based on current projections.