Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Floyd Green says the Pedro Plains Irrigation Expansion Project will be the largest irrigation scheme in the Caribbean, once completed.

Green also announced that over 1,000 land titles will be issued to farmers in areas where irrigation pipes will be installed, as most of the land along the proposed route is currently untitled and unregistered. “People don’t have any documents for the land. And we said, You know what? As a part of the Pedro Plains Irrigation Scheme, we are going to ensure that every piece of land that the pipeline goes through, the people will get a registered title free of cost,” he said.

Speaking at the launch of the Pedro Plains Irrigation Expansion Project on Friday (July 11), he stated that about 100 of the titles will be distributed to residents to commence the initiative. “So people will leave here with their title for their property, the first of its kind,” he added.

The agriculture minister noted that the Pedro Plains Irrigation Expansion Project is the most technically robust and environmentally sustainable intervention and will have the construction of a new intake structure on the Black River, which will be constructed at Lacovia. “We will secure a reliable water source. We will place reservoirs and pumping stations to ensure optimal flow throughout the system. It will have a pressurised trunk main and a pipe network that will deliver water directly to farm gates.

“Most importantly, the entire operation will be powered by a 9.7 megawatt solar photovoltaic system. Renewable energy will run the Pedro Plains Irrigation System. We’re going to build a fit-for-purpose operations and maintenance facility for the National Irrigation Commission,” Green continued.

He also added that there will be a brand new office and an operations centre that will run the Pedro Plains and all other systems that were implemented over the years. “Additionally, the Pedro Plains Irrigation Project will come with agri-processing facilities that will be built and cold storage that will be built in the project area so that as we produce more, we can store and sell.”

He revealed that the Pedro Plains Irrigation System will bring water to several areas, including Mountainside, Greenfield and Southfield. “Today is a great day for us here in St Elizabeth; we are already the breadbasket [parish], and the feasibility studies said that at minimum, we will increase production by 35 per cent… We know that down here, we can not only help to feed Jamaica; we can feed the entire world,” Green added.