KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Floyd Green, says the Southern Plains Agricultural Development Project (SPAD) is aimed at providing adequate water supply, irrigation and drainage services to farmers for production of crops targeting the export market.

According to the ministry, the programme is being implemented in Parnassus, Clarendon, and Amity Hall and Bridge Pen in St Catherine

Speaking at the official launch of the project at the Office of the Prime Minister last Thursday, Green said “we have started to give them training in relation to agri-enterprise, we have started to help them in relation to technology and research and we have already identified the crops that we believe are best suited for this area.”

“Already, we are looking at onions, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes and hot peppers,” he added.

The minister noted that under this project, three wells will be dug.

“Already one has been completed, which has shown a yield of 50 per cent of the targeted daily water supply with the second well already 90 per cent complete,” he said.

“We will commence the digging of the next well in January 2021,” Green added.

The minister noted that along with providing the farmers with the appropriate agricultural marketing solutions, the project is aimed at ensuring that a socially inclusive gender-equitable and climate-sensitive agricultural sector is developed.

Additionally, Green said, work has begun on organising the farmers and farming groups to ensure that they can garner the benefits of the project such as the Matching Grant Scheme, which comes as a part of this project.

In launching the project, Prime Minister Andrew Holness said, “small and medium-sized farmers are to make up the majority of the beneficiaries, they will have 495 hectares allocated to them. Some 15 per cent of the space, that is 124 hectares, will be reserved for women farmers and 70 hectares will be set aside for young farmers.”

The project is being funded through a grant of approximately £17 million from the United Kingdom Caribbean Infrastructure Fund (UKCIF), administered by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).

The project is also aligned with the recently launched Essex Valley Agricultural Project in St Elizabeth, which is also funded through a grant from the UKCIF.