Calling goat farmers!

MONTEGO BAY, St James — Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Roger Clarke has urged farmers to prepare to significantly increase the rearing of small ruminants as the Government intends to import less goat meat into the country.

"We are self-sufficient in pork and in poultry, but we import a lot of mutton. We eat a lot of curry goat, but some 80 per cent of the goat meat we eat is imported. We want to change that and that is why we are seeking to improve our programme for small ruminants," Minister Clarke said.

He was addressing last Wednesday's 58th Annual Hague Agricultural Livestock and Food Show in Falmouth, Trelawny. The show, which attracted thousands of patrons, was held under the theme, 'Empowering youths in agriculture: grow what we eat, eat what we grow'.

The agriculture minister, while congratulating the farmers for the work they have been putting into their farming activities resulting in the sector recording more than 10 per cent growth in the last quarter of 2013, indicated that there was still much more work to be done.

To read more, Calling goat farmers!

Adapted from Jamaica Observer