The ongoing upgrades and expansion of Jamaica’s irrigation systems will see the construction of four solar photovoltaic (PV) farms as part of a modern climate-smart initiative.

“These systems will generate 3.1 megawatts of power, making it the Caribbean’s largest agricultural-related solar farm,” Agriculture Minister Floyd Green disclosed on Tuesday during his contribution to the 2025/26 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives.

“They are expected to save millions of dollars in energy costs, lowering the burden on our farmers and boosting long-term sustainability,” Green said.

“So far, we have laid over 60 kilometres of irrigation pipelines, rehabilitated farm roads, including some that were not originally planned, and are ensuring better access for farmers,” Green added.

“This year also marks a major leap forward in our agricultural infrastructure in South Western St Elizabeth. This, as the long-in-gestation Pedro Plains Irrigation Expansion Project, which has been spoken of since the 1970s, will finally get going,” Green told the House.

He said Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness will break ground for the commencement of the civil works on this project in July.

“Cabinet has already approved the multi-year investment of $23.6 billion. This initiative will tap into the Black River surface flow and will expand irrigated production and increase productivity for a projected 6,267 farmers across 4,103 hectares of land,” said Green.

“Already, we have mapped nearly 19,000 parcels of land and conducted cadastral surveys for 1,000 parcels as part of our effort to generate land titles and secure easements for the installation of pipelines and the establishment of reservoirs,” he said.

“When the prime minister breaks ground for the Pedro Plains Irrigation Scheme, 200 residents in the project area will receive titles to their land, for the first time ever, completely free of cost,” Green said.

He also spoke to the Essex Valley Agricultural Development Project in St Elizabeth, which, he said, is well on its way to full completion by January 2026. “While over 700 farmers will benefit directly, the ripple effect of this project will touch the lives of more than 3,000 people across surrounding communities,” he said.

The minister shared that work was ongoing on the Southern Plains Agricultural Development Project, which stretches across Amity Hall and Bridge Pen in St Catherine and Parnassus in Clarendon, describing the undertaking as “another transformative undertaking”.