Floyd Green happy about increase in Irish potato production

Agriculture Minister Floyd Green says there has been an uptick in Irish potato production since the start of the year.

He is attributing the increase to the support provided by his ministry, through the Production Incentive Programme (PIP), spearheaded by the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA). The beneficiaries of PIP have been getting assistance with inputs such as planting material and fertiliser.

According to Green, the focus of the programme is primarily on Irish potato and hot pepper production across production zones like the Hinds Town belt, in St Ann. He expressed delighted with the performance of the farmers in and around the production zones.

“Farmers are actually surpassing our national averages and even surpassing, in some instances, world averages for production of Irish potato per hectare.”

He said what the farmers are doing is particularly significant as the drought in 2023 impacted Irish potato production.

“We asked the team at the ministry to redouble their efforts, to look back at the programme, to look at the technical support they were providing the farmers, and also to look at providing more access to water so that our farmers would have better outcomes in this production cycle,” said Green.

As it relates to irrigation support, Green said his ministry has put measures in place to mitigate the impact of the drought on agricultural productivity.

“We have decided to invest a lot of the PIP into water catchment facilities so that our farmers, when they get rain, will be able to harvest that water and have it for the dry season,” said Green.

“So, we were able to unveil one of these catchment facilities in the Hinds Town region and that will serve multiple farmers. They will be able now to come put in their pumps and get out that water and use that to ensure that they have better outcomes from their fields,” added Green.

Green also noted that there has been an increase in the number of farmers entering hot pepper production and stated that the agriculture ministry has been ramping up its support of hot pepper production through the PIP. He said there has been a noticeable increase in the export of sauces, which will put the country in a position to provide the raw materials necessary to keep that sector going.