Agriculture Minister, Floyd Green, says he expects reasonable availability of most agricultural products come Christmas.

But he warns some items may be in short supply.

Minister Green gave an update on the drought and the government’s response in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

The Minister says the government has undertaken an extensive drought mitigation programme to better manage the situation.

He says without that intervention the outcome could have been significantly worse, particularly following an industry already in recovery mode following Hurricane Melissa.

Meanwhile, Minister Green says with some rains returning, the government is moving to ramp up production where feasible.

He says the government is targeting items with a short crop cycle that will be ready in time for the Christmas period.

However, he pointed to some crops which will remain scarce.

Floyd Green, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Mining and Geology.