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Billion-dollar honey industry up for grabs
published: Thursday | August 24, 2006 <DIV class=KonaBody>
Agriculture and Lands Minister, Roger Clarke (right) and Eric Swaby (left), member of the All-Island Bee Farmers Association (AIBFA) watch as the new processing plant in Linstead, St. Catherine processes and packages honey while on a tour of the $15.9 million facility on Tuesday. Also witnessing the operation are Robert Pickersgill (centre), Member of Parliament for the area and other members of the AIBFA. - nathaniel stewart/freelance <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 700; COLOR: black! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">photographer</SPAN>
The PROSPECTS of the island bee-keeping industry is set to improve with the commissioning into operation of a new processing plant to refine and package honey at international standards.
The processing plant, which was commissioned into operation on Tuesday by Agriculture and Lands Minister, Roger Clarke, costs just over $15 million and has been outfitted to process 778 gallons of honey in an eight-hour workday. The project was funded by the <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: black! important; BORDER-BOTTOM: black 1px solid; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent">Agricultural</SPAN> Support Services Project (ASSP) to the tune of $11 million and the remainder by the All-Island Bee <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: black! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">Farmers</SPAN> Association (AIBFA).
According to Mr. Clarke, "There is money to be made in the beekeeping industry and we are taking deliberate steps to equip our farmers to avail themselves of the opportunities presented here to increase their earnings."
Assistance
He said the "plant will assist the farmers to make that necessary link between primary production and marketing of value-added products." The minister pointed out that this was just one component of a three-pronged strategy to position the bee-keeping subsection to meet world-class standards and provide farmers with the opportunity to exploit the income
Billion-dollar honey industry up for grabs
published: Thursday | August 24, 2006 <DIV class=KonaBody>
Agriculture and Lands Minister, Roger Clarke (right) and Eric Swaby (left), member of the All-Island Bee Farmers Association (AIBFA) watch as the new processing plant in Linstead, St. Catherine processes and packages honey while on a tour of the $15.9 million facility on Tuesday. Also witnessing the operation are Robert Pickersgill (centre), Member of Parliament for the area and other members of the AIBFA. - nathaniel stewart/freelance <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 700; COLOR: black! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">photographer</SPAN>
The PROSPECTS of the island bee-keeping industry is set to improve with the commissioning into operation of a new processing plant to refine and package honey at international standards.
The processing plant, which was commissioned into operation on Tuesday by Agriculture and Lands Minister, Roger Clarke, costs just over $15 million and has been outfitted to process 778 gallons of honey in an eight-hour workday. The project was funded by the <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: black! important; BORDER-BOTTOM: black 1px solid; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent">Agricultural</SPAN> Support Services Project (ASSP) to the tune of $11 million and the remainder by the All-Island Bee <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: black! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">Farmers</SPAN> Association (AIBFA).
According to Mr. Clarke, "There is money to be made in the beekeeping industry and we are taking deliberate steps to equip our farmers to avail themselves of the opportunities presented here to increase their earnings."
Assistance
He said the "plant will assist the farmers to make that necessary link between primary production and marketing of value-added products." The minister pointed out that this was just one component of a three-pronged strategy to position the bee-keeping subsection to meet world-class standards and provide farmers with the opportunity to exploit the income