Jamaica agricultural research project

Contracted RAC management staff will implement the project. The RAC will be composed of representatives of farmers, exporters, financiers, agribusiness, agricultural education, the Ministry of Agriculture, Agro 21, and others. The RAC will develop priority criteria for commodity research and will use project funds to make grants to public and private individuals and organizations, national and international institutions, private farmers, commodity boards, and other agencies to conduct specific, applied research and on-farm trials that meet these criteria. Short-term commodity specialists will provide assistance in research design and methodology and technical backstopping for these efforts. The RAC will also contract nongovernmental agencies such as international agricultural research institutions (IARC"s - e.g., IICA and CARDI) to conduct multi-year research in collaboration with national research stations, especially Bodles; contracted research will focus on key commodities such as root crops, legumes, and cereals and be conducted mostly on farmers" fields. In addition, the RAC will use project funds to finance: (1) scientific interchanges between selected local researchers and recognized scientific authorities in commodities of interest; and (2) short-term technical training at IARC"s and other research centers for select local researchers, including those identified for contract work. Finally, the project will provide funds to level the land, design and lay out research plots, and provide fencing at the Bodles research center.