HAUGHTON COURT, Hanover — Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Pearnel Charles Jr has revealed that his ministry is in talks with potential suppliers of technology that will help in the fight against praedial larceny.

Speaking exclusively with the Jamaica Observer following the official opening of the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) parish office in Hanover on Wednesday, the minister said while he does not want to reveal too many details, dialogue has begun to get the project underway.

“We are meeting with two teams now that are going to explore an additional technology which will allow for us to track the animals if they are stolen,” stated Charles Jr. He gave the analogy of microchips used in dogs in other jurisdictions, providing owners with the ability to locate their pets if they are stolen.

A National Animal Identifications and Traceability System (NAITS) is currently in place for cattle. Charles Jr said the Government will be pushing this programme heavily next year.

NAITS tags an animal in the ear, and takes a sample of its DNA that is linked to its animal passport and its owner. This is supposed to make it easier to trace stolen animals or their meat to the rightful owner and farm.

However, in order for this programme to work efficiently, all animals must be tagged and this is a challenge. Based on a 2007 census, Jamaica currently has about 75,000 heads of cattle, with more than 57,000 tagged.

As of next year farmers will need to ensure that their animals are tagged. Charles Jr said the initiative is free of cost to them. This measure, he added, will provide Jamaica with a simpler monitoring and enforcement programme that will help reduce praedial larceny.

“The whole range of potential and possible innovations and technologies to reduce praedial larceny are being explored… to ensure that we can keep the farmers and fishers in Jamaica safe,” he noted.

The minister said the possible build out and start up date for the electronic tracking system will be done quietly so as to avoid alerting the thieves it is being designed to collar.

“When we reveal, we should be able to capture the persons who are stealing, we will be able to route it to the persons who are buying and we will be able to take down the groups that have been victimising our farmers and fishers for too long. So, we are building out the structure. We are going to launch it and we’re going to quietly do a lot of other things that are necessary to really build a strong structure to protect farms and farmers,” Charles Jr explained.

During the opening ceremony for the RADA parish office in Hanover, he and his state minister congratulated the more than 7,000 farmers for the work they have done over the years despite challenges such as having their livestock stolen. Charles Jr reiterated that the agriculture sector has recorded six consecutive quarters of growth.