MINISTER of Agriculture and Lands, Dr Christopher Tufton, says that Jamaica’s ability to achieve developed status by 2030 will depend heavily on the successful development of the agricultural sector.

Dr Tufton told a Vision 2030 Agricultural Sector Planning Workshop at the Terra Nova Hotel on Wednesday, that agriculture offered the best possibility for growth in the short term.

“The agricultural sector is special in that it is possible to achieve growth from this sector in the shortest possible time, given the plethora of opportunities that this sector has to offer and the God-given natural resources at its disposal,” Tufton said.

He said that his ministry had already prepared an agricultural development strategy with a vision for achieving a modern, efficient and competitive agricultural sector by 2020.

“We at the ministry are, therefore, even ahead of the PIOJ (Planning Institute of Jamaica), in that the long-term planning strategies have already been formulated and the process of development has begun,” he said.

He said that the government was determined that agricultural development must be the fulcrum on which sustainable development of the rural economy will be based in the quest for developed-country status.

The present policy is to shift agriculture to the mainstream of social and economic development, as it has a critical role to play within rural development strategies.

He said, however, that while the effort to have developed-country status demanded comprehensive research and development facilities in the sector, it was “distressing” that the research infrastructure had been allowed to deteriorate and disintegrate over the years.

“No longer can the sector survive with the current levels of production and producvity being achieved,” the minister warned. “We must strive to upgrade the production methods of small farmers.”

According to Tufton, the modernisation of the sector would make investing more attractive to young people. Another way of encouraging investments was to identify linkages with other sectors, including tourism and agro processing.

But Dr Tufton warned that any modernisation strategy in the sector must first be buttressed by strong policy initiatives including proper land utilisation, effective land zoning, a well-designed afforestation policy, control of imports, quality standards and development of an effective trade policy ensuring that exports could meet the challenges of changing multilateral trading regimes.

In addition, he said, any vision for sustainable rural development planning must include the preservation of rural life and the cultural identity of rural populations.

Other speakers at the workshop included the permanent secretary in the ministry, Donovan Stanberry and Dr Peter John Gordon, director in charge of economic planning and research at the PIOJ which is in charge of the Vision 2030 project.