Following on the pledge to support the Government’s recovery programme for farmers affected by fallout from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), H&L Agro donated $2 million in agricultural inputs to the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries on Thursday (May 21).

The donation completes the company’s $10 million

relief package, which also included product discounts of up to 30 per cent for

all farmers during April and May.

On accepting the donation, Minister Agriculture

and Fisheries Audley Shaw said, “The support offered by H&L Agro is

consistent with the Government’s commitment to restoring the livelihood of

farmers in their communities and helping to restore Jamaica’s food security.

There is a need for farmers to ramp up local production to serve local markets

and the support from H&L Agro is a signal that we will get up and keep on

going.”

The donation includes fertilizers, pesticides and seeds all selected to give small farmers a jump start towards regularising production, following the restriction of movement and closure of markets across the island. Farmers should begin reaping crops as early as 70 days from transplanting seedlings.

“Our mission is to support farmers across

Jamaica,” said Olive Downer Walsh, Deputy CEO, Hardware & Lumber, the

parent company for H&L Agro. “We are going further than just donating

supplies; the farmers can also count on our technical expertise to ensure that

they yield the very best results from their crops. With the additional challenges

they have faced in recent weeks due to COVID 19, support from planting to reaping

has never been more critical.”