KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Karl Samuda is urging local farmers to expand production of lowland and high mountain coffee in an effort to reduce green coffee bean imports.

Low land and high mountain coffee is grown outside of the Blue Mountain range in parishes such as Clarendon, St Catherine, Manchester and St James.

Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee is sometimes mixed with other coffee beans to produce a coffee blend that is in high demand but fetches relatively lower prices.

The country imported just under 430 tonnes of green coffee beans valuing US$1.74 million in 2016 for this purpose.

According to Samuda, the time has come for more of these beans to be produced locally.

“We can blend the Blue Mountain coffee with our locally grown coffee. We must develop lowland and high mountain coffee across the length and breadth of Jamaica where it can be produced,” said Samuda.

He was speaking Wednesday at the launch of the JS 61:2016 Jamaican Specification for coffee at the Bureau of Standards Jamaica.

Samuda also announced that plans to tax imported green beans are well advanced.