The Government yesterday announced a raft of measures to intensify agricultural production as the country takes aim at positioning the sector to take advantage of opportunities created by the global economic crisis.

Agriculture Minister Dr Christopher Tufton yesterday listed a number of initiatives that would attract greater private investment into the sector and provide better access to credit for farmers.

Tufton was making his contribution to the Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives.

Among the major initiatives he announced was the establishment of a new agro-investment corporation to promote large- and medium-scale investment in an effort to drive up production in the sector.

He said that while the Government would continue to support small farming, that industry alone would not make the sector competitive. About 76 per cent of the island's 220,000 farmers cultivate on a hectare or less of land.

"This will have a major impact on our productivity levels and our farmers' ability to compete. We must find ways to support our small farmers, but we must also encourage medium- and large-scale farms if agriculture is to be sustainable," Tufton said.

He said the new corporation would act as a one-stop facility within the agriculture ministry and that it would work closely with government bodies such as Jamaica Trade and Invest and the Ministry of Industry to support large agricultural projects.

New land reform measures

The new investments would be pursued in tandem with new land-reform measures, the agriculture minister said, to identify suitable land for investment.

However, while attracting large investment would be important, Tufton said strategies to position small farmers and to improve the perception of agriculture were needed.

He said access to credit was still a major problem for many farmers because of the difficulty many continuously faced in meeting collateral requirements and developing adequate business plans.

He said the Government would introduce a loan scheme to help remedy the situation. The new scheme will allow farmers and fishers to access credit of up to $2 million at an interest rate of 9.5 per cent.

The loan will require that farmers provide collateral for only 50 per cent of the loan's value.

Youth under the Government's Youth in Agriculture Programme will also have access to as much as $1 million in credit and technical support.

The loans will be provided in line with the Government's move to restructure the PC banks and expand credit distribution outlets to include credit unions and other micro-financing entities.

Tufton said Government's efforts to improve production would also be enhanced by better post-harvesting care, which includes reaping, warehousing and storage of produce.

That thrust will include the establishment of five wholesale-market facilities for handling produce and livestock. They will be built at a cost of $20 million.

Two new post-harvesting, processing and packaging facilities will also be built in St Elizabeth and Manchester at a cost of $50 million.

Clarendon, St Elizabeth and St Mary will also receive pepper-mashing facilities at a cost of $80 million.