Plans are well advanced for the construction of a new sugar factory in Clarendon, with ground set to be broken in July 2025
The investor has already leased 12,000 acres for sugar-cane cultivation and secured 27 acres for the factory’s development.
This was disclosed by Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining Floyd Green, while addressing the handover ceremony for materials to farmer beneficiaries under the Cocoa Frosty Pod Disease Management Programme at the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) Clarendon parish office in May Pen on Thursday, June 5.
“They have already gone through most of the approvals. The last thing was the environmental phase and I got some good news that they got through that; in the first phase, they will be investing about US$50 million. That will be a big thing for the economy of Clarendon,” Green said.
Meanwhile, the minister noted that cocoa-industry stakeholders have been battling the Frosty Pod disease since 2016, when a team was assembled to develop strategies for combatting it.
Frosty Pod Rot, caused by a fungus, invades growing cocoa pods, damaging both the pods and the seeds they produce.
Between 2018 and 2022, more than 5,970 acres of cocoa trees were treated under the Frosty Pod Rot Project, aimed at combatting the devastating fungal disease affecting cocoa production.
“From that we decided that the only way to sustain long-term viability in the fight against Frosty Pod was to ensure that RADA – a key extension partner – includes it as a programme under their umbrella. They have taken over the fight against Frosty Pod, and over the last three years we have seen tremendous improvement,” Green said.
He pointed out that RADA’s engagement resulted in more than 2,145 acres of cocoa in St. Catherine, St Andrew, St Mary, St Thomas, Clarendon, Portland, parts of Trelawny and parts of St. James being treated.
Additionally, the minister said RADA has successfully transitioned the programme to a farmer-centric model, placing farmers at the forefront of disease management, and further that they have taken the lead by implementing integrated pest management and best practices to curb the spread of the Frosty Pod Rot disease.
“We have been able to assist over 1,098 farmers, train 1,817 farmers through our Frosty Pod farmer field school, and 360 RADA staff across the industry have been trained in the identification and management of the Frosty Pod Rot disease. Some 2,824 farmers have also received technical support. We have established demonstration plots where farmers can go to see the best practices in Clarendon, St Mary, St Catherine and St Andrew,” Mr Green pointed out.
Meanwhile, the ministry has begun distributing grafted cocoa plants, which have demonstrated greater resistance to Frosty Pod disease.
They have also installed a container storage facility and renovated post-harvest collection bins to help the sector.
“This year, we are going for rapid expansion. We want you to continue to use all that you have learnt in relation to the management of the cocoa Frosty Pod. We have to now drive back the production because the demand is here and the prices are not bad,” Mr. Green said.
“We are going to be planting about 900 acres and we will continue to focus on the cocoa pod disease. We are looking at 450 acres of new fields with new resistant plants that will be treated with fungicides, and we will have 60 farmer trainers from the field schools where farmers will come to keep on top of training to manage the disease,” he added.
Several farmers received chain saws, spraying machines, weed cutters, fertilisers, pesticides and other inputs during the ceremony. Loop News
