Agriculture Minister Roger Clarke (left) examines canned ackees for the export market along with Dr. Omer Thomas (right) Executive Director, Bureau of Standards, and Dr. Marshall Hall, managing director Jamaica Producers Group. The occasion was last Saturday's seminar on the challenges in Jamaican agriculture at the University of Technology. - Norman GrindleyTHE GOVERNMENT, in association with the Inter-American Institute for Co-operation in Agriculture (IICA), will be implementing a programme aimed at getting more young people involved in farming.
Dubbed the Agricultural Support Services Project, the programme will focus on research and improvements to, and an expansion of extension services.
Agriculture Minister Roger Clarke said that students in tertiary institutions will be targeted. He was speaking on the weekend at a joint seminar of the Farquharson Institute of Public Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture and the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS).
The seminar, which was held at the University of Technology, had several presenters speaking on a range of topics. These ranged from 'problems with our soil' to 'new approaches to production'. The impact of the World Trade Organisation on developing countries was also examined.
"We (the Government) are contemplating getting some young people into agriculture. We intend to focus on those students in the tertiary institutions," Mr. Clarke told the more than 200 participants at the seminar held under the theme "Challenges in Jamaican Agriculture".
Against the background of the growing number of young people getting involved in crime the Minister said: "We are working with IICA in that regard and we hope to begin that programme about now because time is not on our side". He said that "the way to deal with the containment of crime is to have a vibrant agricultural sector".
The Minister said the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) would be working closely with schools in an effort to get children interested in farming at an early age. And he disclosed that steps were being taken to remove from the books legislation considered outdated and ineffective. This was welcome news for the many farmers in attendance who continue to suffer at the hands of praedial thieves.
To get production going, RADA will be upgrading its field operations to provide information to farmers. RADA will also develop a database and train farmers in the use of computers. Research will be stepped up and research stations resuscitated.
