ST JAMES, Jamaica (JIS) — The Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries (MICAF) has committed $50 million to provide crop care and productivity support for this year’s implementation of the National Irish Potato Programme, which will cost $1.6 billion.

This was disclosed by Minister without Portfolio in MICAF, J C Hutchinson, who said the inputs will include pesticides and fertilizers, among other key provisions, adding that “we are going to be increasing productivity by 11 per cent (equating to0 17 tonnes per hectare.”

He was speaking at a national Irish potato stakeholders’ seminar at the National Irrigation Commission research station in Hounslow, St Elizabeth on Thursday.

Hutchinson said the programme’s outturn for the 2016/17 crop year, which ended in June, saw the sector recording a 99 per cent self-sufficiency rate in local table potato production.

This, he contended, has set the tone for the 2017/18 crop year, which will focus on further boosting productivity.

In this regard, the minister advised that nine validation plots will be established on which participatory training for farmers will be conducted. Additionally, he said 20 farm tours will be conducted for farmers not benefitting from the training exercise.

The activities, he further stated, will also include the strengthening of marketing agreements or contracts between farmers and buyers.

Hutchinson said based on its outcomes, the programme has become a model for other crops.

“The National Irish Potato Programme has earned its reputation as a success story for Jamaican agriculture and in addition to that, it has become a model for our import substitution strategy, which we are also now applying to other crops such as onion,” he pointed out.