Government plans to reduce food import bill by US$300 million

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The Jamaica government says it intends to significantly reduce the island’s food import bill, which stands at a staggering one billion (US) dollars.
Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Roger Clarke said the intention is to reduce the bill to US$700 in the short to medium term.“We have targeted some 8,000 acres of government lands that we intend to put into the hands of farmers and we are committed to putting in the basic infrastructure to help to get those lands into production.
“We will be working on irrigation systems, we will be helping with extension services and whatever else that can be done …we are going to do it,” he told farmers and other stakeholders at the annual Montpelier Agricultural and Industrial Show in St. James, west of here.