Sugar Cane Farmers Encouraged to Plant Other Crops

#Jamaica, November 13, 2021 – Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce with oversight responsibility for Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Audley Shaw, is encouraging farmers who were part of the sugar industry to pivot into planting other crops.

“The sugar industry has been in decline, but I want to use this opportunity to remind everyone, including our farmers [that] there are other opportunities. Everywhere sugar cane grows, mango orchards can grow, everywhere sugar cane can grow, ackee orchards can grow,” he said.

“Ackee orchards, they could focus on that, and mango orchards, and other long-term tree crops,” Mr. Shaw encouraged.

The Minister also highlighted that National Geographic magazine in the United States declared Jamaica’s National dish, ackee and saltfish, the second-best dish in the world.

“So now we have to start exporting ackee and saltfish as a finished product in the can, not just ackee alone in the can, but ackee and saltfish,” he said.

Mr. Shaw was speaking during the official opening ceremony of AUSTROJAM Ltd.’s cold-storage facility at their Bluntas, St. Elizabeth, location on Saturday (November 6).

AUSTROJAM Ltd. which operates 150 acres, cultivates melon, honeydew, cucumbers, onions, Irish potatoes, pumpkins, and peanuts. AUSTROJAM Ltd. also supplies hotels on the north coast.

Minister Shaw congratulated AUSTROJAM for its contribution to the Jamaican economy “by cultivating and distributing Jamaican produce for over 14 years”.

“AUSTROJAM has helped to maintain the integrity of Jamaican produce with its consistent supply to hotels and supermarkets, across the island. A strong, reliable and forward-thinking company like AUSTROJAM is undoubtedly an asset to the Jamaican agricultural [sector],” Mr. Shaw said.

He also commended the company for understanding the need for the involvement of small farmers, as the organisation has contracted more than 50 farmers on the community level.

Chief Executive Officer of AUSTROJAM Martin Zsifkovics, highlighted that he started to build the cold-storage facility in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic after he saw how much of his produce started spoiling due the downturn of the economy.

“It was a big risk that we took last year in the pandemic when nothing was going on.  I took the step when I saw how many fruits were spoiling; we had to invest into the storage,” he said, adding that more than $35 million was invested in the project.

Mr. Zsifkovics also highlighted that COVID-19 was not the first challenge for Jamaica’s agricultural sector, as the island has also been devastated by natural disasters but has always bounced back.  He added that with the downturn in the sector last year due to the pandemic, AUSTROJAM pivoted and started planting and distributing unsalted peanuts.

Also in attendance at the official opening of the facility, was Leader of the Opposition, Mark Golding; Member of Parliament for St. Elizabeth Southwestern, Floyd Green, and President of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), Clifton Reader.

Contact: Serena Grant

Release: JIS