CLARENDON, Jamaica — Plans are well advanced for the construction of a new sugar factory in Clarendon, with ground set to be broken next month.

The investor has already leased 12,000 acres for sugar-cane cultivation and secured 27 acres for the factory’s development.

This was disclosed by Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Floyd Green, while addressing the handover ceremony for materials to farmer beneficiaries under the Cocoa Frosty Pod Disease Management Programme at the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) Clarendon parish office in May Pen on Thursday.

“They have already gone through most of the approvals. The last thing was the environmental phase and I got some good news that they got through that; in the first phase, they will be investing about US$50 million. That will be a big thing for the economy of Clarendon,” Green said.

Meanwhile, the minister noted that cocoa-industry stakeholders have been battling the Frosty Pod disease since 2016, when a team was assembled to develop strategies for combatting it.

Frosty Pod Rot, caused by a fungus, invades growing cocoa pods, damaging both the pods and the seeds they produce.

Between 2018 and 2022, more than 5,970 acres of cocoa trees were treated under the Frosty Pod Rot Project, aimed at combatting the devastating fungal disease affecting cocoa production.

“From that we decided that the only way to sustain long-term viability in the fight against Frosty Pod was to ensure that RADA – a key extension partner – includes it as a programme under their umbrella. They have taken over the fight against Frosty Pod, and over the last three years we have seen tremendous improvement,” Green said.

He pointed out that RADA’s engagement resulted in more than 2,145 acres of cocoa in St Catherine, St Andrew, St Mary, St Thomas, Clarendon, Portland, parts of Trelawny and parts of St James being treated.

Several farmers received chain saws, spraying machines, weed cutters, fertilisers, pesticides and other inputs during the ceremony.

— JIS