ST JAMES, Jamaica (JIS) — Farmers across western Jamaica, particularly in St Elizabeth are optimistic that the US$5-million Hounslow Animal Research facility in the parish will go a far way in improving both the quality and quantity of the nation’s small-ruminant stock.

The facility, which was officially opened in 2016, offers artificial insemination and embryo transfer services to farmers who are involved in goat and sheep rearing.

It was built jointly by the Agriculture Ministries of Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, with support from Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI), through funding from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Government of New Zealand, which also funded similar projects in six other Caribbean countries – St Lucia, Guyana, Belize, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica, and Grenada.

According to the farmers, the centre is providing a vital service to the agricultural sector by adding new bloodlines to the goat and sheep industry, while rebuilding the animal stock.

Paul Walker, a goat farmer from Southfield, St Elizabeth, says it will improve not only the quality of the stock but also the numbers.

“As farmers we are always on the hunt for new bloodlines and species of goats and sheep as we seek to satisfy the growing demand for meat. We have heard that over 10,000 new hotel rooms are coming on stream in Jamaica within a short time, and I know that they will be needing goat and sheep meat to feed the guests. It is left up to us, the livestock farmers, and particularly those of us who are involved in the small ruminant sector, to satisfy the demand,” he added.

Female farmer, Judith Grant, who hails from Accompong in St Elizabeth, and who operates a farm with more than 30 heads of goat, says that the research centre will literally breathe new blood and life into the small-ruminant sector.

Grant said that although she is yet to benefit from the goat-revolving scheme, she is supportive of the centre, as farmers now have a source through which they can get much-needed support.

Manager of the Hounslow centre, Audley Facey, who is also the Chief Livestock Officer in the Ministry of Agriculture, notes that more than 120 goats and 60 sheep have been distributed to farmers under a livestock distribution project at the facility.

Facey said the research centre will also assist farmers in not only developing new bloodlines of goat and sheep, but in controlling diseases.