Agriculture Minister Floyd Green wants local farmers and their counterparts in the Diaspora to be strategic in their planning, noting that those who plant crops without first identifying a market are setting themselves up for disappointment.

Green, who was speaking during a session of the recently concluded 11th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference in Montego Bay, wants local and diaspora investors to adopt a more business-oriented approach to agriculture by turning away from the traditional practice of planting based on personal preference rather than market demand.

“Part of what we are doing at the Agro-Invest Corporation is encouraging investors to come to us before they start planting so that we can guide them into what the market is looking for," he said.