MONTEGO BAY, St James – AGRICULTURE Minister Dr Christopher Tufton has expressed satisfaction with the progress being made by his ministry, as it seeks to fulfil its mandate of producing 25 per cent of the country’s rice consumption needs within the next five to seven years.

“I am satisfied with the level of participation we are getting from the farmers and other stakeholders and even though we are still in a learning mode we are comfortable at where we are,” said the agriculture minister.

At present there are 50 acres of rice under cultivation in the parishes of St Catherine and Clarendon.

And according to Richard Saddler who heads the Jamaica Rice Industry Development Unit (JRIDU), within the next two weeks another 130 acres of the crop will be planted in those two parishes, while 20 acres more will be cultivated in St Elizabeth and Westmoreland.

“… and when the next crop begins in July we intend to plant about 1,000 acres which should be reaped by November,” added Saddler.

He pointed out that a portion of the expected yield in November will be placed on the local market for consumption, while the remainder will be used as seedlings to cultivate more lands.

“We don’t want to import seeds so we are doing seed production as a part of our growing process now,” he explained.

Some ninety farmers are currently working with the ministry of agriculture in the cultivation of 12 varieties of rice. But according to Dr Tufton that amount is expected to be significantly increased in the coming months.

The island has produced rice in fairly substantial quantities at various times in its history.

The move to re-establish the cultivation of rice, the Government had said, comes against the background of spiralling food prices and food security concerns.

Jamaica spends roughly US$70 million annually to import approximately 100,000 tonnes of finished rice for local consumption, Saddler said.

Meanwhile, Dr Tufton said the country recently received millions of dollars worth of equipment from the Chinese government which will be used in the cultivation and harvesting of the crop.

“The equipment includes combined harvesters, drying machines and tractors and there is a possibility that a Chinese company will invest in the cultivation of the crop,” said Dr Tufton.