MONTEGO BAY, St James - Jamaica will this week begin the cultivation of 12 varieties of rice on 20 acres of lands in St Catherine and St Elizabeth on an experimental basis, in a bid to ascertain the variety best suited to be grown in the island.

"Already we have the seedlings and the lands have been prepared for planting," Agriculture Minister Dr Christopher Tufton told the Sunday Observer yesterday.

The project is being funded by a grant of US$10,000 from the Caribbean Rice Growers Association, and has also received financial assistance from the Ministry of Agriculture.

According to the agriculture minister, roughly 15 acres of the crop will be grown at BRUMDEC and Bouges in St Elizabeth, while the remainder is to be cultivated at Amity Hall in St Catherine.

The varieties being experimented with - which include 'sybonnet' from the USA and 'prosequisa' from Venezuela - are expected to yield between seven and 11 metric tonnes per acre.

The island has produced rice in fairly substantial quantities at various times in its history.

The crop has been historically grown in Westmoreland, St Catherine and St Elizabeth.

In 1976 rice cultivation in Westmoreland was limited to the Shrewsbury and Roaring Rivers areas, where it is estimated that a total of 230 acres were under production.

Almost 30 years ago, rice was cultivated in Georges Plain and the Meylersfield area of the parish, covering more than 1,800 acres of land.

In St Catherine, the crop was grown along St John's Road near Dovecot, in the Hellshire Hills and on a 3,000 acre farm at Amity Hall.

At that time too, approximately 6,000 acres of rice were under cultivation in St Elizabeth, with BRUMDEC accounting for 5, 000 acres.

But the yield from the varieties grown at that time, raged from four to six metric tonnes per acre.

The development of rice farming in those days, however, was inhibited by several constraints, mainly, the lack of an efficient rice-drying and milling facility.

Tufton said yesterday, that the move to re-establish the cultivation of rice comes against the background of spiralling food prices and food security concerns.

He said the findings of the experimental plots will be known in October when the crop is harvested.

After that time, he said, a decision would be taken on the variety or varieties to be grown in the island.

Over the last few weeks, Tufton said, presentations have been made to private sector entities, several of which have shown an interest in rice cultivation.

Government, he said, was not interested in cultivating the crop, but is willing to make the necessary resources available to the private sector.

"We are not interested in managing the cultivation of rice, but we intend to provide the necessary resources, including the land to the private sector," Tufton emphasised.

He added that based on preliminary discussions with members of that sector, a local investor has signalled his intention to cultivate 1,000 acres of rice by year end. He did not name the investor.

The Ministry of Agriculture has projected that within the next 12 months at least 5,000 acres of rice would be under cultivation.