Jamaica Domestic Crop Production Decline

Rashaed Esson

Staff Writer

#Jamaica, June 12, 2023 – The foreseeable future for Jamaica’s domestic crop production is looking somewhat dim as it is on track to record a decline for the 1st half of the year.

The prolonged drought which started last year was fingered as the culprit for the anticipated decline as highlighted by Floyd Green, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Mining, who made the announcement during the recent staging of the annual Agricultural, Industrial and Food Show, hosted by the Kingston and Saint Andrew Association of Branch Societies of the Jamaica Agriculture Society at the playfield of the ministry’s Hope Gardens  office.

He said the drought is affecting Jamaica’s farmers despite the effort of the Ministry to quell its impact, further highlighting that “the first quarter of this year will record a decline.”

“In fact, based on the figures that I have already started to peruse, we will see, at minimum, a nine per cent decline in production in the first quarter of 2023, and I do expect that in the second quarter, we will see further declines in relation to agricultural production, largely because of the drought,” he added.

Green pointed to statistics highlighting the seriousness of the drought and emphasizing the magnitude of its impact.

He revealed that last October, at the start of the dry period, the country recorded a 21 percent decline below the annual mean average of rainfall. It persisted for the rest of the year into 2023 with 33 percent less rain in December, 68 percent less in January, and 72 percent less in February.

However, efforts are  being made by Green to mitigate drought effects as he said he has directed Dermon Spence, Permanent Secretary to call an urgent meeting of all of the heads of agencies to have talks about resources into drought mitigation. He expressed that this is in addition to the $200 million already allocated.

These efforts are of great importance amid the arrival of the El Niño Phase. It is important to note that even though the past couple weeks have seen wet weather, the region has not yet escaped the possibility for extensive drought, given the dual nature of the El Niño period which according to Cedric Van Meerbeeck, Climatologist, the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology, can either bring suppressed rainfall or a boost in rainfall.