The Editor, Sir:

I would like to agree with the stance taken by Dr Christopher Tufton in going after growth in the agricultural sector. Growth in this sector is a real possibility, if I am permitted to look at this issue from the perspective of the parish of St Catherine.

St Catherine over the last five years has witnessed tremendous growth in the areas of distribution, construction, automobile sales and services, legal services, medical care facilities including pharmacies, banking and personal finance, optical, medical and general health services, hairdressing, restaurants and fast food outlets among others. What has lagged behind is the development of the agro-processing, packaging and local manufacturing industries (with the exception for manufacturing of construction and decorative blocks), market creation for locally supplies feedstock such as medina, water lettuce , water grass, duck weed, peanut wis, hibiscus leaves and buds, callallo and cabbage cuttings among others, the dairy processing industry (eg yogurt is still not processed locally using local inputs) and the meat processing industry.

The average pig farmer in St Catherine, faces feed input costs that are nearly 20 times higher than their counterparts in Canada. Equally, while it is known that the quality of eggs improves with the addition of natural vegetation to the diet of the hens, which would also from a St Catherine's perspective lead to a reduction in the cost of housing layers, the absence of a domestic feedstock market acts as a deterrent to the enrichment of the feedstock.

Lack of a specialised market

While the rapid growth of the residential population and the matching growth in the retail and distributive trade create the opportunity for the local expansion of meat processing facilities in the production of breakfast sausages, bacon, hams and other smoked products and indeed for pickled meats, have been lagging. In the main because of the high cost of capital and the rapid increase in the cost of land in addition to the lack of a specialised physical market where wholesale home processed meat could be sold.

The processing and packaging of fruits and vegetables has also suffered greatly from the high costs of capital and soaring real estate rents. For example if a farmer wished to produce fruit ice or shake, that farmer would require work benches, semi-industrial blenders or juice extractors, packing and sealing material, a dedicated cooling or freezing facility, etc, all of which represent a start-up cost beyond the reach of the average middle-size farmer.

The rapid growth in the population and related sewage treatment plants also create the real possibility for the local production of both type A and type B biomass, in addition to the production of traditional organic soil conditioners. The existence of a physical market where animal farmers could offer for sale aged manure and compost would serve to offset some of the costs faced by stable owners, chicken, pig and dairy farmers, by bridging the spatial divide that exists between crop farmers and livestock farmers.

Economic growth in the agricultural sector, taken from a St Catherine perspective, is a real possibility; if steps are taken in the area of provision of specialised markets, encouraging the commoditisation of existing non-market goods and encouraging on-farm or cottage processing of meats; if steps are taken to encourage family (household)-based production and or sales; if training in meat and dairy preservation is offered through the existing HEART Trust/NTA and Social Development Comission infrastructure, and if affordable credit is provided for the purchase of equipment and the construction of on-farm facilities such as pens, runs, etc.

Where the provision of affordable credit for the purchase of equipment is not possible, thought could be given to the provision of village-based Rural Agricultueal Development Authority or Jamaica Agricultural Society-operated processing facilities where would-be small producers would be able to rent machine time.

I am, etc.,

BASIL FLETCHER

Donovanfletcher@hotmail.com

Greater Portmore

St Catherine