KINGSTON, Jamaica – Six new farm tractors, valued at $49.7 million, have been presented to the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

They are intended to bolster activities in six high-producing parishes; namely St Thomas, St Ann, St Elizabeth, Clarendon, Manchester, and St Catherine, and will add to the seven tractors currently in use by the entity.

Speaking at Tuesday’s handover ceremony at the Agro-Investment Corporation (AIC) in Kingston, Portfolio Minister Pearnel Charles Jr said expanding RADA’s equipment fleet is “a step in the right direction” in strengthening the agency’s capacity to provide for the nation’s farmers.

“Food security is a priority for every single Jamaican, and we don’t want to just be producing food, we want to be producing in a sustainable way and operating as efficiently as possible. So, the utilisation of mechanisation and equipment and innovation is important,” he pointed out.

The Minister said the tractors are to assist RADA-registered farmers, at discounted rates, with land preparation, ploughing, harrowing, farrowing, ripping, rotovating, bush cutting, as well as providing support with drainage.

Utilising the equipment is also in keeping with the Ministry’s ‘Grow Smart’ thrust, which speaks to production through efficiency.

Minister Charles, who also thanked farmers for contributing to the sector’s continued growth, said together with the implements that will be utilised, the vehicles represent a total of almost $90 million of “well-spent investment”.

This investment, he said, will also contribute to RADA’s continued thrust for excellence, especially in light of the entity’s recent ISO 9001:2015 certification.

Meanwhile, Charles implored farmers to exercise “due diligence” in utilising the services provided and to undertake preliminary basic land preparation before employing the use of the tractor service.

In his remarks, State Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, Franklin Witter, affirmed that “the Ministry is committed to making sure that we deliver in terms of our investment in mechanisation… that we deliver in terms of our investment in respect of the support that we give to our farmers”.

Witter also urged parish managers to take care of the equipment as they deliver the service to the farmers.

“We are now experiencing a 17.5 per cent growth in the agricultural sector. This is as a result of the work that you do; this is as a result of the support that you give to the farmers and, therefore, as we get this additional equipment, I’m looking forward to even greater productivity,” he added.

For his part, acting chief executive officer of RADA, Winston Simpson, indicated that the organisation is “rebranding and realigning” while emphasising that, “we see the need to provide a better service to our farmers, one of which is the tractor service”.

He recommitted the RADA team to guiding the nation’s farmers to secure additional growth for the sector as the end of the financial year approaches.