PHOTO CAPTION: Goat, sheep and cattle on parade at Ash Wednesday’s (March 5) staging of the Hague Agricultural and Livestock Show in Trelawny
Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, the Hon Roger Clarke has issued another call for young Jamaicans to choose agriculture as a viable career option and get involved in the sector.
Speaking at the 58th Hague Agricultural and Livestock Show in Trelawny on Ash Wednesday (March 5), Minister Clarke told patrons, that the sector needed people to conduct research, to develop marketing plans and strategies; to get involved in technical areas; to become extension officers and to drive the technological development of a sector that was currently growing and was essential for the country’s economic development.
“Let us keep the momentum going, young people!” he urged and noted that it was encouraging to see that the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) is also taking on the challenge of more youth involvement, with the theme for the show being Empowering Youth in Agriculture.
Minister Clarke said that over the years farming has primarily been undertaken by men but the Ministry has been encouraging more women and young people to become involved in farming through several projects.“Working in collaboration with our partners, including the Rural Agricultural Development Authority and the 4H Clubs, the Ministry is committed to do more innovative work to support this ambitious goal. To date, we have trained over 102,000 youths and established over 453 school gardens,” he said.
A youth and women component has also been introduced in the Ministry’s Irish potato programme which targets 40 hectares of land, 38 hectares of which have already been planted with the number of beneficiaries being 168 youth and women.
Crops like Irish potato, ginger and peppers, the Minister pointed out, can be grown on small acreages and young people were being encouraged to look to farming in such crops as a viable alternative for employment and income generation.
Against the background of climate change and the threat it poses to sustainable agriculture, Minister Clarke said it was important to lessen the impact of these challenges by increasing crop production and productivity through diversity, with the planting of more drought-resistant and high-yielding crops, as well as the use of alternative sources of energy and the increased use of greenhouse farming, to minimize the potential impact of the weather ,allow more efficient use of water, less usage of chemicals for pests and control and earn higher yields than open-field cultivation.
The agriculture minister stated, “These are some of the initiatives we would like our young people to get excited about as we move forward and seek to modernize our sector for the greater good of all Jamaicans.”
