The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, through the Sugar Industry Authority (SIA), launched the Sugar Industry Authority Training Institute (SIATI), aimed at providing high-quality training to cane farmers and other industry stakeholders to drive the growth and sustainability of the sugar industry.
Portfolio Minister, Hon. Floyd Green, said SIATI is expected to address the longstanding productivity issues impacting the industry and contribute to its sustained viability.
“The way to build a sustainable sector across agriculture and the way to build a sustainable sugar industry is to focus on empowering the employees and the stakeholders that are at the base of that system to ensure that we build capacity and to ensure that we are using best practices throughout the region and best practices throughout the world,” Green outlined.
He was speaking at the launch function held on Monday, January 6, at the SIA Library and Conference Centre in Mandeville, Manchester.
Minister Green shared that the training would expose cane farmers and stakeholders to a variety of industry-related topics and best practices.
“We will foster and facilitate research to ensure that we are introducing sustainable tactics, crop improvement, and technological advancements in our sugar processing. We will focus strategically on increasing productivity by looking at our techniques, looking at new technologies, and looking at how we can ensure that we are utilizing the byproducts of sugar cane to bring the greatest profitability to our sector and to our manufacturers,” he explained.
The agriculture minister emphasized that the private sector is also playing its role in the revitalisation of the industry.
“I am happy to share from my last discussion with Frome in December, that they are investing at least 1 million United States Dollars this year on mechanizing some of their processes including bringing in harvesters to treat with some of the challenges they have on the labour side,” he highlighted.
Similarly, he said groundbreaking for the Tropical Sugar Company is expected to take place this year. He said this represents Jamaica’s first major sugar investment in recent times.
SIATI will use synchronous and asynchronous learning methods, allowing participants to access courses and complete assignments at their own convenience. Courses will be facilitated by local and international experts in the sugar industry and will explore topics such as the Sugar Industry Act, sugar anatomy and physiology, and raw sugar processing.
Pilot sessions for SIATI were conducted in 2024, from which feedback was collected to improve the courses being offered. Classes are expected to begin in mid-January, with module one taking place Mondays through Thursdays between the hours of 5 pm and 9 pm.
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