Business View Caribbean | July 2019

42 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN JULY 2019 pictured above Fred M. Jones Administrative Staff: Glenroy Samuels, Oliveen Stephenson, Nicholas Jones, Delma Taylor, Mertilyn Barrett and Erma Sinclair million coconuts a year. Then the lethal yellowing disease came in and wiped us out in the 1960s. We replanted and took our coconut production back up to about five million and then the second wave of the disease came through. So, now, I decided to replant again. There have been new developments in managing coconut cultivation and we’ll be taking those on and, hopefully, having another part of our family legacy manifesting itself in coconut production.” It takes 3 ½ years for coconuts to be harvest-ready, so FMJ is planting in the same area as the cassava, so it can produce while waiting for the coconuts - getting two different crops from one piece of land. “We’re trying everything,” says Nicholas. “Jamaica’s production of coconuts is way down from what it used to be. But everybody wants coconut oil and coconut water, and with the value added to both those products, even if there is competition, it will bear the market for quite a while. With cassava, I can only assume that the beer companies will continue to utilize locally grown starch-based products rather than having to import. So, there NEWPORT FERSAN JAMAICA LIMITED IS THE NATION’S LEADING BLENDERS AND SUPPLIERS OF FERTILIZERS. BACKED BY KNOWLEDGE, TECHNOLOGY, AND PRECISE NUTRITION FOR YOUR CROP AND SOIL. www.newportfersanja.com K I NGSTON , J AMA I CA W. I . • ( 876 ) 967 - 58 1 5