Facts are facts

The following is a response by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries to a column by Opposition Spokesman on Agriculture, Roger Clarke, which was published in The Gleaner on Friday, May 6.

Two weeks ago, the ministry reported that domestic crop production increased by 24 per cent and the entire sector by 14 per cent for the first quarter. The methodologies used for the estimation of production for the various subsectors are largely the same that were used prior to 2007. There has been little change in the basic systems, although their execution has been considerably improved. Any data presented by the ministry undergo various levels of verification with considerable interaction, including consultation and field-verification checks with the primary data providers, including extension officers, farmers and producers, and commodity organisations.

All efforts have been made to ensure the quality of data is as accurate as possible. Oversight and additional quality control and verification are provided by the Planning Institute of Jamaica and the Statistical Institute of Jamaica. It should be noted that it is the same methodology used for this quarter that was used for the last quarter of 2010 when a decline in production was reported.

improving accuracy

Over the past few years, the ministry has worked to improve the accuracy of its data-collection and reporting processes. Among these have been the doubling of extension officers in the field, supported by marketing and livestock officers who have been given additional training in aspects of data collection and reporting. The increased use of technology, including hand-held GPS, laptops and web infrastructure such as the Jamaica Agricultural Marketing Information System, has allowed for greater efficiencies in the timeliness of collection, accuracy of transmission, analyses and reporting of agricultural statistics.

The increase in production reflects the targeted interventions of the ministry over the past three years. Such interventions include greater technical support from an expanded extension and marketing service, provision of input, access to land and subsidised loans to farmers through such programmes as the Financial Access for Responsible Members, and Arable Lands Irrigated and Growing for the Nation. Generally, the sector is also benefiting from improved irrigation service in the most productive areas, which increases productivity and reliability of production. Since 2007, the Hounslow, Seven Rivers and Pedro Plains systems have been commissioned to provide irrigation service to 2,462 acres of land in some of the most productive areas of Jamaica.

Additionally, we have seen a proliferation of greenhouses, moving from an estimated 15 acres in 2007 to 23 acres in 2010. Total greenhouse production has increased by 129 per cent over the same period.

same emphasis

In light of this increase in production, the ministry concurs with Mr Clarke that marketing must be addressed with the same emphasis as production. The farmers' markets were initially conceived to remove the excess produce occasioned by the massive increase in production after Tropical Storm Nicole in 2010. Naturally, in instances of glut, the farmers would be worse off because of suppressed prices. Therefore, the farmers' market was to provide temporary relief to those farmers by bringing them directly in touch with consumers.

The rationale was that if consumers could access these produce at reduced prices, they would be motivated to purchase more. The farmers' market served an additional purpose in that it brought a greater perspective to the gap between farm-gate and retail prices. An analysis of the gap between farm-gate and retail prices in municipal markets and supermarkets has, in some cases, shown a difference of sevenfold, usually created by the middleman. What the farmers' markets highlight is that there needs to be a serious correction of the massive gap between farm-gate and retail prices to provide farmers with greater return for their effort and consumers with better prices.

The volume of production traded in the farmers' market over the temporary period would not be of the magnitude to cause major dislocation in traditional markets. In moving forward, the ministry has considered hosting monthly farmers' markets on days that would not conflict with traditional market days.