The Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) has embarked on a drive to increase the production of the famous Lucea yam in the parish of Hanover.

“RADA is currently on a drive to diversify agricultural production within the parish. During the period, we have successfully launched the Lucea Yam project. And what we are trying to do is to incrementally increase the production of the Lucea yam within the parish over the next five years to at least 25 acres,” said RADA’s parish manager for Hanover, Collin Henry.

To date, RADA has spent over $500,000 on the project. Some 12 farmers have been assisted with a total of 5,000 pounds of planting material.

Each farmer was given 416.67 pounds of planting material along with one 50 kg bag of fertiliser and is expected to establish 100 yam hills with the material received.

The targetted communities are Cascade, Lucea and Green Island.

According to Henry, farmers currently involved in the project are expected to donate planting material in the future in an effort to allow far a continuous expansion in production. The project, which is aimed at women and young people, is being implemented and closely monitored by RADA’s extension staff.

“We are targeting women and youth to be a part of this programme, because when you look at the average age of farmers, we are really going to be in trouble within the next 10 years,” said Henry.

And Henry, who was addressing a recent Hanover Parish Council meeting, has sought to assure farmers that there will be a market for the produce.

“I can assure you, Sir (Councillor Devon Brown of the Hopewell division) with the Lucea Yam, you can actually put ‘for sale’ on your car and use the money to buy some Lucea yam. What we are using to drive the Lucea yam is what we call marketing intelligence,” assured Henry.

“In recent time, the Ministry of Agriculture and RADA have now set up an office overseas and we have what we call marketing arrangement with buyers. So we just don’t go and tell farmers grow things. We use the marketing intelligence to guide the production. And we have a decline in Lucea yam. As a matter of fact, over the last five years Lucea yam has not fallen below $70 per pound at the export market and there is a serious shortage of Lucea yam in Jamaica. So! the market is there. Excellent market.”

Seven years ago the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) donated $225,000 to the Cascade Producers Marketing Organisation in Hanover in an effort to assist in the production of Lucea yam.

As that time, the FAO representative in Jamaica, Dr Dunstan Campbell, said the project, which was facilitated under the FAO’s Initiative on Soaring Food Prices project, was specifically for the production of Lucea yam, and is aimed at restarting and boosting the specialised area of yam production in Hanover.

The FAO’s programme, however, is not related to the current efforts of RADA to boost Lucea yam production.