ROSE HALL, St James — It appears Jamaica is sowing the seeds for a new era of agricultural prosperity with the staging last week of a forum designed to connect capital with opportunity in one of the island’s most important sectors.

Addressing the final day of the inaugural Jamaica Agribusiness Investment Forum last Friday, Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining Minister Floyd Green said the purpose of the congress was to showcase structured, investment-ready projects in crops, livestock, fisheries, and agribusiness, while shifting the national perception of agriculture from subsistence to a serious, wealth-generating industry.

“…We do need a forum that organises the opportunities in an easy-to-reach way that targets investors from near and far and says to them, ‘There are real opportunities and potential for you to maximise your profits, for you to see real returns on those investments in agriculture.’ And as such, this was born. It took us some time to bring it to life but we are here today,” stated Green.

“Based on my conversations with everybody whom I interacted with yesterday, it does appear we are off to a wonderful start. For us, this is about changing the mindset around agriculture, changing how we approach agriculture and fisheries, because I think we all know for far too long we’ve spoken of agriculture and fisheries like it’s a fall-back-on profession. [It’s] like, you can’t do anything so mi have to go do some agriculture,” argued Green.

However, he pointed out that, “Some of our biggest companies are agriculture-based companies. Some of the biggest companies in the world are agriculture and fisheries-based companies so we are changing that conversation.”

Green said the change of conversation started under the new phase of the Government’s food strategy which focuses on food security, agribusiness development, climate-smart technology, and export expansion.

At the heart of the forum was the newly launched “deal book”, a practical guide detailing investment-ready opportunities, expected returns, available land, and support services for prospective investors. The book was officially launched by the CEO of Agro-Investment Corporation (Agro-Invest), Vivion Scully on Thursday — day two of the forum.

On Friday, Scully presented copies of the book to Green and his colleague Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce Senator Aubyn Hill.

Green shared some of the book’s contents.

“[It] tells you a little bit about what you will take to invest, what the returns on those investments look like, where are the opportunities in terms of land for you to make those investments, and who could do those hand-holding services to marshal you through those investments,” stated Green. “We have outlined a number of great investments.”

He pointed out that people travelling along the southern highway may see a big pond and wonder what is happening there.

“We have built the largest retention pond that will take water from the Rio Grande [and] that will service the irrigation needs of that entire Southern Plains Agropark,” Green explained, adding that the project is now open to investors.

“Applications are open. And don’t sleep on it because we launched Parnassus [Agro Park in Clarendon] earlier this year and Parnassus is now completely gone,” he said, pointing out that all 700 acres have been taken by investors.

“Walkerswood [the Jamaican seasonings and condiments producer] has taken about 70 acres of our Parnassus Agropark. They need it, and they need more, but you know, they want to partner with a number of you,” the minister told the gathering.