Wilberne Persaud, Financial Gleaner Columnist

Lillieth Clarke, a lecturer at the College of Agriculture, Science and Education, examines a bearing tomato plant on the school's farm in Portland, in this August 2006 photo. Agriculture continues to suffer from perennial underfunding. - File

Last month, I noted the strong urban area pull and bright lights of Kingston in the push for young people's internal migration and farmers' modal age being around 60 years old.

Effectively, there appears to be insufficient rejuvenation of the farming enterprise going on.

In addition, there is a widespread view that farming and agriculture in general is a dead end option.

To describe income inadequacy from farming, this absolutely stunning representation of reality, with a vintage well over a decade ago, jumps out at me.

Late former President of the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union and Prime Minister of Jamaica Hugh Shearer requested my assistance in a hearing before the Industrial Disputes Tribunal.

Issues emerging were inflationary trends and the different speeds at which wages and prices respond normally as distinct from their responses when subject to government regulation.

One day at recess he invited me to lunch at a lovely little Harbour Street restaurant, downtown Kingston.

Sugar vs ganja

Amid thoroughly interesting reflections and conversation he dropped this gem: 'Imagine a worker producing a ton of sugar compared to another producing a pound of ganja - and the price; which wins?'

Sugar may have been fetching something in the region of US$400 per tonat the time.

For the record, first, the elder statesman was by no means advocating illegal activities, he was merely stating a reality; second the quote is by recall, not verbatim from a recording or files. I do remember thinking to myself that I'd never heard the problem put so succinctly.

As trade unionist with experience of the sugar industry, he had few peers in his class of understanding the complex set of problems.

Add to this the fact of today's freer trade in agricultural imports, oil price increases and its impact on inputs such as fertiliser, problems of transportation from farm gate to main road and a transportation system that has not been upgraded in too many years we get a reasonable grasp of the predicament.

Earning a reasonable income from agricultural enterprise is difficult and risky. No waiting list of young recruits for entry into the sector exists. Those who are in it have generally been involved for years. Recruiting new entrants, especially young people is a difficult task. Why and what to do?

Although the difficulties seem overwhelming there are yet a few avenues of action indicated.

First is to recognise that everything is connected to everything else. Tautology? Perhaps, but improvements to the modernity of life in parishes other than St. Andrew, St. Catherine and St. James should go a long way to reducing the rural urban drift.

In other words, Kingston may be the capital but it doesn't have to be that there are no comparable activities that can be supported in other urban centres.

This has little, directly, to do with agriculture but in the end, given our perception of the problem, it does.

Private enterprise is already grasping this - sadly, it is the criminal private enterprise that sees it most clearly.

Police blotters

Review of police blotters, which I have not seen, should confirm that these innovators are increasingly viewing Jamaica as more of a unified space for operations.

But to give expression to a parallel realisation by government, may require changes to the Constitution.

Parish capitals should become centres of activity in a kind of distributed governance made eminently possible by the new technologies that we have already begun to embrace.

In the area of regional and international agreements we obviously need to make sure that we leave room for domestic agriculture to grow.

From the scientific/technical standpoint, we need to recreate facilities that take the place of the agricultural extension officer whom we lost to insurance services around the same time as the programme was effectively abandoned.

Here I am considering the possibilities for production to meet both local and, more importantly, export demand for organics in the new era of retiring baby-boomers with high net worth.

Financing

Finally, arrangements for financing have been a perennial problem for agriculture. There always seems to be inadequate sources of funding.

This shortfall also always seems to be equalled by the delinquency in 'farmers' meeting obligations. These two problems while perennial do not have to be intractable. If we really want to solve them, we can.

It requires that we take the problem as seriously as is required. It is not up to the World Bank, or any other multilateral type institution to find solutions for us.

We have to be proactive and innovative. To do this we shall have to commit scientific personnel and other resources that will require funds.

We may have to cut away some bureaucracy and squash th of command chains.

Whatever is legitimately required needs to be done. Consider how much positive impact any of the big cost overruns of the past few years could have made if deployed in such endeavours.

wilbe65@yahoo.com