Hutchinson champions bamboo industry

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, the Hon J.C. Hutchinson, says Government is devising ways to allocate lands and to encourage farmers to produce bamboo in an orderly and organised manner in support of the demand for the expansion of the value chain.
The development of the bamboo industry, the minister said, provides another opportunity for Jamaica to continue to maintain its profile as an innovation-based agro-industrial destination.
Speaking at the inaugural Caribbean International Bamboo Symposium on November 27, Minister Hutchinson said the new bamboo industry will consist of a growing number of products along the bamboo value chains to include bamboo pulp, paper and packaging products, bamboo charcoal and charcoal products.
“We intend to pursue the various value-added products from bamboo consistent with the new focus for the development of our agricultural sector,” said Minister Hutchinson, who noted that bamboo is now officially recognised and will receive the status by the Government as a new industrial crop in Jamaica.

He further stated that the local bamboo industry would be characterized by small and medium-size community-based producers, working within recognized agro production zones. These community-based producers would supply large producers with material to manufacture products such as bamboo plates, cups, knives and forks, which are biodegradable and reusable to replace the plastic ones.
The minister explained that working in collaboration with the Forestry Department, the agriculture ministry will be one of the key stakeholders in the cultivation and harvesting of bamboo in Jamaica, which will be guided by the Forest Act of 1996, as well as the National Forest Management and Conservation Plan 2001 that outlines the manner in which activities are to be conducted to protect and manage the forests in Jamaica.