In a move to reduce energy costs, the Government will soon commence distributing solar-powered cooling systems to dairy farmers, according to Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green.
“This is to reduce the cost of producing water, to get more water to our farmers, especially in times of drought,” the Minister said, while speaking at the recent commissioning of solar plants for the Caribbean Broilers (CB) Group, at the Peninsula Farms in Banbury, St. Catherine.
The Minister said that by leveraging renewable energy sources, including solar power, efficiencies can be enhanced, there will be reduction in production costs, and “we can mitigate environmental impacts, thus ensuring resilience and longevity in agriculture”.
Annually, the solar system is expected to minimise the company’s energy use by an average of 25 per cent.
The Minister said the company’s clean energy effort is a testament to the innovative spirit and “forward thinking” approach of the business sector, noting that the development “aligns seamlessly with the vision for sustainable development of the agricultural sector”.
“We are determined to use these advanced technologies in our livestock sector,” he said, while underscoring that last year the agricultural sector contributed eight per cent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), and from that, 80 per cent was from the poultry sector.
At the commissioning, the company unveiled one of the four solar plants at the Peninsula Hatchery Farms.
The CB Group has also commissioned solar plants at the CB Foods Cold Storage Distribution Centre in Freetown, Clarendon; Newport Mills, Kingston; and the Caribbean Hatchery in Old Harbour, St Catherine.
