DROUGHT and the lingering effects of Hurricane Sandy contributed to the decline in the agriculture sector earlier this year, but some livestock producers are set to improve their production.

Chief among the crops that felt the full brunt of Sandy were plantain and banana, which have a longer gestation period, according to the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) in its review of the country’s economic performance for the three months to March.

During the first quarter, the agriculture, forestry and fishing industries contracted by an estimated by 10 per cent compared to the corresponding period last year.

But notable projects by the Rural Economic Development Initiatve (REDI), which is funded by the World Bank and the Government through the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), should be rolled out shortly, and should yield positive results in the near term.

Four pig projects have commenced — one in St Elizabeth, two in Manchester and one in Clarendon.

Already, two groups have received pigs and the first set will be ready for market come August, said agriculture specialist at JSIF, Vincent Thompson.

Plans are also being made to upgrade the Bodles Abattoir and Research Centre to be a training centre, giving demonstrations on butchery.

Manchester farmers are set to receive a chicken-rearing facility, which will help to provide quality products for the market. To start off, they will get 1,000 chickens.

“Many of them had to use their backyards, some of which were not up to public health standards,” said Thompson.

Traditional export crops fell by 30.6 per cent during January to March. Among them, banana output dropped by 67.3 per cent, cocoa decreased by 86.7 per cent, and coffee dipped by three per cent.

Nine other agricultural crops declined by 9.9 per cent during the three months to March.

Specifically, plantain production was down 57.6 per cent, legumes were down 10.8 per cent, and vegetables down 7.7 per cent.

Training some 5,200 farmers in good agricultural practices (GAP) under the US Food Safety Modernisation Act (FSMA), is expected to improve agricultural exports, while it should help strengthen linkages with the tourism sector by bringing in more locals into the supply of food to hotels and restaurants.

Later this year, a group of 90 farmers in St Mary will receive a storage facility. The viability of their business has been threatened by a lack of cold storage (refrigerated) facilities to store perishable crops after they are harvested and before they are prepared for the market.

Agro processing will also see some improvement when a sorrel-processing factory, which will make jams, jellies and juices, is completed. The construction is set to begin this month, following the signing of sponsorship yesterday.

Farmers are expected to realise a 400 per cent increase in revenue through adding value to their sorrel crop.

Caribbean Broilers Group’s quest to cut imports by producing its own sorghum to use in animal feed continues.

The company will produce another 1,000 acres at Amity Hall, St Catherine, and the crop will come up by October, said Dr Keith Amiel, corporate affairs manager of the group.

CB successfully reaped and sowed their trial plots earlier this year.

Though production is not labour intensive and requires only two persons to man the machinery, Dr Amiel said it could improve food security and continue to cut import costs.

Red Stripe still plans to establish commercial agreements with farmers to cultivate cassava to replace imported barley for input into its beer, but no longer has an interest in growing sorghum, for now.

“Part of the company’s strategy in Diageo is locally resourced materials (LRM),” said Marguerite Cremin, Red Stripe’s head of corporate relations. “Our target is 20 per cent of its raw materials to be locally sourced by 2015.” The local brewer has a memorandum of understanding with Jamaica Producers to investigate this project.

Post-harvest activities were also down by 27.1 per cent during the three months to March.

Sugarcane, however, posted positive results during the first three months of 2013 — production increased by 1.4 per cent.