MINISTER of Agriculture Floyd Green has moved to allay fears that Jamaicans could face a shortage of some of their favourite foods come Christmas.

According to Green, despite current shortages caused by Hurricane Melissa, adequate food — including table eggs — will be available for the Yuletide season.

The agriculture minister gave the assurance on Tuesday as he addressed a special post-Melissa media briefing at Jamaica House.

He said his ministry has already started “tapping into external sources to ensure that we have sufficiency of supply”.

According to Green, his ministry conducts an analysis of demand patterns throughout the year to ensure it is aware of what the supply should be

“We have a fairly good idea of some of the areas and how much we consume and then we look at our production patterns and where there is a shortfall, then we say we can tap into external sources to fill that shortfall,” added Green.

He declared the local farmers need not worry about the plan to import produce, as “we will not do more than is needed. There will be space for your products. Once you bring them to market there will be space for that. But already, we’re looking to tap into external support for our vegetable lines and our table eggs”.

Green, who is also Member of Parliament for St Elizabeth South Western, reminded the briefing that there had been a shortage of eggs before Melissa hit, with the challenges made worse since the hurricane, which wiped out 458,000 layers; 40 per cent of laying hens.

He said his ministry is in discussions with the Ministry of Finance about the appropriate relief that is needed “to ensure that these items can land here at a reasonable price so that our consumers will have access to fresh fruits and vegetables and eggs for the Christmas period”.

The agriculture minister told the briefing that in the month since the hurricane hit on October 28, leaving $60 billion in agricultural and livestock losses, farmers have started planting again, reestablishing nurseries, repairing greenhouses, “and getting themselves in a position to feed Jamaica again”.

He said this was why the support being given by the Government is critical to accelerating the pace of the recovery “and to ensure that we hit our target of feeding Jamaica again”.

Green pointed out that the Holness Administration is now in phase two of the hurricane recovery which will see it intensifying its interventions over the next six months.

He said, so far, his ministry has procured more than 7,000 packs of seed at a cost of $50 million and is in the process of procuring another $70 million worth.

The ministry will also be purchasing $50 million of fertilisers which are specially formulated for yam farmers who suffered damage to up to 70 per cent of their crop. An additional $50 million will go towards purchasing planting materials and stakes for the yam farmers. Greenhouse farmers are also being assisted to get back into production, including the provision of material and bringing nurseries back on stream with the provision of seedlings.

Green said all these are being done with the assistance of the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), which is stepping up its free land preparation programme to assist farmers. This includes paying private tractor owners for the use of their equipment to get land ready for planting.

Meanwhile, Green said $800 million of the $3 billion allocated to his ministry in the Third Supplementary Estimates of Expenditure, tabled in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, will go towards the repair of some 40 farm roads.

He said RADA is taking the lead in procuring 100,000 broiler chicks and feed expected to produce 160 kilogrammes of chicken meat. Distribution will start this week.

Green told the briefing that his ministry is targeting farmers who have the capacity to continue while a programme for pig farmers, and those in the small ruminants business is also being worked on.