MYLERSFIELD, Westmoreland —LUCIUS Jackson is better known in Westmoreland for his exploits in sugar cane cultivation. But since the start of the year, Jackson, 69, has been turning his attention to his 'old love' — rice farming.

And while he is not contemplating coming out of sugar cane, Jackson, who successfully cultivated more than 100 acres of rice in the Mylersfield area more than two decades ago, believes that rice cultivation in sections of Westmoreland is still viable.

"When you take into consideration the cost of imported rice and the fact that sometimes there is uncertainty surrounding its availability, I am very sure that cultivating it is worthwhile," Jackson told the Observer West.

Jamaica spends roughly US$70 million annually to import approximately 100,000 tonnes of finished rice for local consumption.

In February, Jackson commenced the cultivation of eight acres of land with the crop-- using the 'prosequisa' variety from Venezuela -- in the Mylersfield area.

The crop, he said, will be harvested next week and will be used to provide seedlings for scores of acres of land, expected to be brought under cultivation in Westmoreland in coming weeks.

Jackson said over the next five years, he plans to grow roughly 1,000 acres of the crop in the parish.

Just over a year ago, Roger Clarke, the member of parliament for Central Westmoreland and a former agriculture minister, told the Observer West he was confident about the viability of rice production in the parish.

"A number of people in the parish are now showing an interest in the cultivation of the crop which was grown on a large scale in the parish during the 1960s and 70s," he said.

Back in the 1960s and 70s rice was cultivated on more than 600 acres of land in Westmoreland.

In Shrewsbury and Roaring River, for example, some 230 acres of land with the crop yielded more than 500,000 pounds of rice in 1976. A few years later, rice cultivation started in George's Plain, covering approximately 1,750 acres.

But with the increased prices of planting material and other agricultural inputs, the cultivation of the crop lost its viability, resulting in scores of farmers who were engaged in the activity going out of business.

In the wake of spiralling food prices and the need to achieve food security, agriculture minister Dr Christopher Tufton in 2008 announced that the government would be reviving the cultivation of rice in the island.

Since then, a number of acres of land in the parishes of St Catherine, Clarendon, as well as Westmoreland are now under cultivation.

Plans are also afoot to cultivate the crop in BRUMDEC, St Elizabeth.