Dear Editor,

If there were ever a time when Jamaica’s agricultural sector needed financial, institutional, and other forms of support, that time is now.

Thus, it was good news to learn of the US$25 million from a multilateral institution for the supposed modernisation of the sector.

A concern, however, is that nowhere among the several purposes to which this loan will be put is the execution of an agricultural census.

I would, therefore, like to impress upon the minister responsible, Floyd Green, that if we are serious about agricultural transformation, a prerequisite is an understanding of many of the variables which impact said sector by way of the most recent data available. Such data is best acquired via an agricultural census.

The ministry’s technocrats would be aware that, in the past, such a census was done every 10 years. However, the last one was in 2007, but to date the information has not been analysed and published due, it is said, to financial constraints.

The above-mentioned loan makes possible the funding needed for such an crucial endeavour, since the importance of up-to-date information for the purposes of the planning and execution of programmes, projects and initiatives to modernise the sector cannot be overstated.

I therefore hope that this suggestion will be heeded.

E Brown

Spalding PO,

Clarendon