KINGSTON, Jamaica – Local onion production has doubled, moving from 6 per cent in 2013 to 12 per cent of local consumption in 2015, according to the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries.

And, under the ministry’s Onion Development Programme (ODP), plans are now afoot to increase local production in another year up to 40 per cent of the 10 million kilograms of onions consumed annually in Jamaica. This, the ministry said in a release, will be made possible by focusing production in suitable zones, including the agro-parks.

The ODP is part of the ministry’s import substitution thrust to reduce Jamaica’s food import bill and ensure the nation’s food security.  Other initiatives include increased production of local table Irish potato and facilitation of the expansion of the cassava industry.

Speaking at an ODP Field Day at Colbeck, St Catherine, on April 12, Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries Karl Samuda commended farmers for the high quality of the onions produced, stating that the sustainable growth of the country is dependent on the engagement of agriculture. He added that going forward there is a need for the extension of the sector into agro-industry.

“What we have here is a display of some the finest products that you could produce, possibly anywhere in the world. I want see that extended into secondary products where it can be packaged appropriately and sold locally and exported,” said Samuda.

Approximately 60 hectares of onion were planted by 290 farmers, islandwide, in the Fall 2015 season, including 39 farmers in Colbeck, who have partnered with Spanish Grain Limited, in the cultivation of eight hectares of onion with a projected yield of 140 tonnes.

Other areas of onion production are St Ann, Trelawny, St Thomas (Yallahs Agro-Park, Springfield and Seaforth), St Elizabeth, St Catherine (Amity Hall, Bernard Lodge, Thetford, Nightingale Grove), and Ebony Park  in Clarendon, as well as other smaller production areas in other parishes.