Hon J.C. Hutchinson (centre), Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, plants red peas along with (from left) Melody Garwood, Coordinator of the Top Burnt Ground Women Farmers Group, Damion Young, Chief Executive Officer, Home Grown Produce, Winsome Witter, President, May Pen Chamber of Commerce & Industry, and Peter Thompson, CEO, Rural Agricultural Development Authority. The occasion was the launch of Home Grown Produce’s red peas project at Spalding, Clarendon, on November 1, 2019.
Hutchinson urges farmers to plant more red peas
Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon J.C. Hutchinson, is urging farmers to plant more red peas. While noting the drastic reduction in production since 1999, where production moved from 1,669 tonnes to 506 tonnes in 2008, Minister Hutchinson pointed out that import of red peas had increased by 395 tonnes in 2018, moving from 7,427 tonnes in 2017 to 7,642 in 2018. “This importation is unsustainable. Much of that imported red peas could be grown in Jamaica, but we have to remain consistent in our production,” said Minister Hutchinson,...
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