By Damion Mitchell, Staff ReporterDENBIGH, CLARENDON:
SIR HOWARD Cooke, the Governor-General, yesterday challenged Jamaicans to support the local agricultural sector to boost its viability.
At the same time, he said the Jamaica Agricultural Society must honour its responsibility to mobilise more farmers to the sector.
Speaking at the closing ceremony on the third day of the 51st annual Denbigh Agri-Industrial Show at Denbigh, central Clarendon, Sir Howard said, "I want to see every single Jamaican taking an interest in livestock and beginning to produce more."
He said that while the Ministry of Agriculture had made achievements, it had failed to produce adequately. "I thank you for what you have been doing but you have to produce more," he told Roger Clarke, the Agriculture Minister.
According to the Governor-General, present global conditions demand optimal use of resources. "We must know that the time has come when we must buy Jamaican products," he said.
Mr. Clarke, the keynote speaker, renewed his call for Jamaicans to support the local industry. He said, "The only way that foreign goods can survive in Jamaica is if we buy it, so don't tell the government not to import it, we are in a free country, in a free market."
He said that amid the difficulties, the sector would survive, and warned that before long, foreign imports would be more expensive if Jamaicans continued to purchase them.
Listing several initiatives to improve agriculture, Mr. Clarke said that six tractors had been provided for a tillage programme to benefit local farmers.
Under the programme, which will be administered by the Jamaica Agricultural Society, farmers will pay 40 per cent of the cost to plough their farms.
