MONTEGO BAY —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.

Minister without portfolio in MICAF, JC Hutchinson said the inputs will include pesticides and fertilisers, among other key provisions, adding that “we are going to be increasing productivity by 11 per cent, equating to 17 tonnes per hectare”.

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

He said the programme’s out-turn 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.

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

The activities, he added, would also include the strengthening of marketing agreements or contracts between farmers and buyers.

Hutchinson said that, 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.

In the meantime, Hutchinson announced that the ministry’s Plant Quarantine ivision has finalised negotiations with authorities in the Cayman Islands to facilitate the exportation of local Irish potatoes to that country under a pre-clearance arrangement.

He urged farmers to adapt to the changing requirements of the sector while making every effort to practice climate-smart agriculture.

Hutchinson also commended stakeholders supporting the Irish potato programme for their efforts in assisting farmers to increase productivity thereby repositioning Jamaica to attain self-sufficiency in the crop.