“Bridging research and practice — empowering farmers and estates with knowledge that works in the field.”
Extension Services serves as the vital link between research and practice, ensuring that farmers, estate managers, and stakeholders have access to the latest innovations in sugarcane production. By working directly with the industry’s key players, this unit makes complex scientific knowledge understandable and practical, transforming research into on-the-ground improvements.
Through field visits, consultations, and farmer meetings, Extension Services provides technical advice tailored to the realities of Jamaica’s cane-growing regions. The team organizes training workshops, post-crop meetings, and information sessions, while also producing bulletins, manuals, and fact sheets that share best practices in areas such as pest management, varietal selection, and field operations.
Our Team
The Extension Services Unit is led by extension officers with a wealth of experience in agronomy and farm training, supported by field officers who operate directly within cane-growing regions. These officers work closely with growers, providing timely solutions and promoting sustainable agricultural practices. See the full team on the Research Projects Branch page.
Programs & Services
Contact
uriel.green@jamaicasugar.org · rennix.dixon@jamaicasugar.org · callie.brown@jamaicasugar.org
Programs
- Training
- Routine and scheduled farm visits
- Expansion of new varieties
Services
- Dissemination of research findings
- Field visits, result demonstrations, field days, and seminars
- Monitoring, survey, and surveillance
- Census (farmer, holdings, variety)
- Crop performance and data collection
- Individual and summary data purveying information gleaned from census, monitoring, and evaluations/analyses
- Focus group meetings
- General agriculture advice on farm layout, crop nutrition, drainage and irrigation
- Business plans
- Mediation (communicating growers’ concerns to the SIA)
- Variety management (variety identification choice by growing region and soil type)
- General good agricultural practices (weed management)
- Pre-harvest maturity testing
- Verification of data
- Digital mapping
- GPS map
Our Impact
Equipped with regional offices and demonstration plots, the unit ensures that farmers can see and apply recommended practices firsthand. Its outreach programs have expanded significantly, with hundreds of growers benefitting from updated techniques and access to new resources. By making research practical, Extension Services empowers Jamaica’s cane farmers to increase productivity, improve resilience, and secure a stronger future for the industry.