The conversion of prime farmland in St Catherine into residential developments has come under withering criticism from Lenworth Fulton, the president of the Jamaica Agricultural Society.
Developers have, over the last decade and a half, been building out a range of housing schemes across swathes of farmland in St Catherine. Among the developments is construction of a residential complex at Bernard Lodge that had ground to a halt years ago but will be completed by the China Harbour Engineering Company.
The Government also plans to build out a new city in Bernard Lodge on 4,600 acres over an estimated 18-year period.
But Fulton charged that the expropriation of arable land for non-agricultural purposes was ill-conceived and threatened the country’s food security.
Land use policy
“I urge the Government to move with all seriousness to developing a comprehensive, practicable land-use policy. In particular, we, the farmers, want to see the majority of arable lands stay in agricultural production, and not be subsumed to urban infrastructure and housing. I make particular reference to the Bernard Lodge lands, some of the very best farmland in this region and even the hemisphere,” said Fulton at a recent launch ceremony at the JAS’s headquarters.
“We recommend that pending and future housing developments and urban expansion make use of marginal lands. And that, by keeping our agricultural land in agriculture and making smart choices in blending infrastructure and transportation … we can potentially stave off the worst effects of climate change.”
Fulton made it clear that farmers were not interested in handouts but wanted incentives such as subsidies on land preparation, a one-time benefit that has been discontinued.
“Agriculture is not something the planners are thinking of because 63 per cent of the land is not suitable for agriculture and percentage of arable available for farming has fallen to about 19.5, a decline of almost eight per cent over a 50-year period.
“So this now is a direct contributor to food insecurity because we are taking more of the little arable land out of agriculture and becoming more food insecure based on that,” he lamented.
By failing to provide significant support for small farmers in the 2019-20 Budget, the JAS president also criticised the Government for facilitating the expansion of Jamaica’s yawning food import bill.
While commending the relief offered to various sectors announced by Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke, Fulton said that taxes on key chemical inputs such as nematicides, herbicides, rodenticides and molluscicides were still as high as 20 per cent.
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