Agri Ministry and CARDI sign MoU for refurbishing of seed storage facility

The Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries and the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the refurbishing of the seed storage facility at the Bodles Agricultural Research Station in St. Catherine. The facility will house the seeds of climate resilient crop varieties for Jamaica and the Caribbean region.

This was announced on April 25, by Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Audley Shaw at the signing ceremony at the Ministry’s St. Lucia Avenue offices.

Under the MoU, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries and CARDI formalized the agreement for use of the seed facility, the refurbishing of which is being implemented by CARDI. This is one of several adaptation initiatives being implemented under the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR) project, with grant funding of US$10.39 million from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

The PPCR is being implemented in five other Caribbean countries to address climate change issues on the impact on agriculture in the region.

In welcoming the partnership, with CARDI, Minister Shaw said that the intervention was a timely one and comes against the background of the redevelopment programme now under way at Bodles, the main agricultural research and development station of the Ministry.
A total of $300 million has been budgeted this year to continue the redevelopment programme to include improving security, road network, farm buildings, water supply and irrigation systems as well as the greenhouses, seed and post-harvest facilities.

“We intend to return Bodles to its pride of place and a centre of excellence in agriculture research in the Caribbean”, the Minister said.

According to Minister Shaw, Jamaica is aware of the important role of Research and Development in advancing the agricultural sector, as the success of the Ministry’s strategies in growing the sector largely depend on the application of the available scientific information based on research and development initiatives.

“Especially in the context of climate change and our obligation to ensure resilience in agriculture, we have to constantly monitor, assess and evaluate the sector in a bid to mitigate its vulnerability and enhance its sustainability. I am happy for CARDI’s involvement in the implementation of several applied adaptation initiatives under the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR) with grant funding from the IDB”, Minister Shaw added.

For his part, Executive Director of CARDI, Barton Clarke said that CARDI is happy to be a part of this initiative as it is important to put in place systems and facilities to build out capacities that allow for timely response in the event of disasters that will disrupt food supply.

“This collaboration is seen not only with a view to strengthening Jamaica’s capacity to respond, but to position the country to help CARDI’s efforts to safeguard the supply of seeds for the rest of the Caribbean, in the event of any unforeseen disasters”, Mr. Clarke said.
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