Agriculture Minister Floyd Green said on 22 September 2026 that the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) has another $60 million to build water catchment points in about 25 high-yield farming areas, as the drought continues to cut crop production by an estimated 15 per cent.
The Jamaica Information Service reported the briefing from Hope Gardens in St. Andrew. Green said the catchments are meant to store rainfall when it returns so productive farming communities can use that water later. The Jamaica Observer carried the same update, noting excavation has already started in some of the identified locations.
Separately, Green announced an additional $50 million for the drought-intervention programme, aimed mainly at water storage and drip irrigation. That sits on top of an earlier package the ministry puts at $135.25 million: $60.25 million through Members of Parliament for direct farmer support, $15 million to the National Irrigation Commission (NIC) for trucking, and $60 million to RADA for trucking and micro-irrigation kits.
RADA has delivered about 1,900 loads of water across eight priority parishes — St. Thomas, Portland, St. Mary, Westmoreland, Clarendon, St. Catherine, St. Elizabeth and Manchester — and distributed tanks and drip kits. NIC has trucked 2.82 million gallons free of cost in irrigation zones in St. Elizabeth, Trelawny, St. Ann and Manchester, and some systems are running up to 16 hours a day. The ministry also says 1,760 farmers have been trained in water management, soil-moisture conservation, drought-tolerant varieties, planting decisions and heat stress on crops and livestock.
About 70 per cent of Jamaican farmers still depend on rainfall, Green said, so dry spells shrink plot sizes. He tied Christmas food security to catching rain efficiently and expanding irrigation, including Essex Valley in St. Elizabeth, where the first paid applicants were expected to start receiving water by the end of September.
What this means. Jamaica is moving from emergency trucking toward stored rain and drip systems in the places that already grow food at scale. The 15 per cent production drop is a near-term food-price and supply risk; the catchments and Essex Valley matter if they open on schedule and farmers can actually draw from them. Household drought relief and rural piped water are a separate track — see Cabinet Adds $500 Million for Drought Relief as Schools Reopen and Jamaica Signs US$36M CDB Loan for Rural Water Across Five Parishes.
What to do. Farmers in the eight priority parishes should ask RADA which of the 25 catchment sites are nearest and what is required to use them. Buyers and agro-processors should watch Essex Valley handover notices and JIS/MICAF updates before locking Christmas supply assumptions. Last fact-checked 30 September 2026.
