The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, through the National Irrigation Commission (NIC) is set to introduce the use of solar power to operate the pumping of water for irrigation.
Minister of Agriculture, Labour and Social Security Derrick Kellier says the move will commence shortly with the commissioning into operation of solar power to operate the pumping system at Ebony Park in Clarendon.
In September a $300 million irrigation project will be launched at Spring Plain/Ebony Park bringing the nearly 3,000-acre property at the agro-park into full production.
Kellier, who was speaking at the 63rd Annual Denbigh Agricultural, Industrial and Food Show in Clarendon on Saturday, August 1, said that if Jamaica is to increase its production and productivity and ensure its food security, irrigation systems needed to be significantly improved and expanded.
Noting that the total irrigable land in Jamaica is 187,814 hectares yet only 12,500 hectares or about seven per cent of that land is irrigated, Kellier outlined a number of strategies intended to optimise and expand the country’s irrigation systems.
The imperative to optimise and expand the country’s irrigation systems is not born solely from the scarcity of water, but from the imperative to increase productivity and Jamaica may very well reach the stage where fiscal incentives for investment in irrigation had to be provided, Kellier said.
The agriculture ministry was therefore preparing a comprehensive proposal to be discussed with the appropriate authority, he added.
“I believe we have no alternative since these droughts are the greatest threat to increased production,” said Kellier.
According to the ministry, in addition to various climate-smart and drought mitigation projects, over $5 billion has been spent over the past 10 years to install new irrigation systems to ensure sustainable agriculture and the reduction of dependence on rainfall.