Farming With Imagination
Published:Friday | August 10, 2018 | 12:00 AM
There is nothing more exciting than being outdoors and witnessing nature at its finest when it comes to helping humans survive. Let's face it, every single thing that we need to remain relevant on this planet is produced from earth's rich soil. It can be said that being a farmer is one of the most important occupations within mankind which is gravely overlooked by society.
Agriculture is the entity that feeds and builds a nation. This is the message that The Jamaica Agricultural Society's National Farm Queen will embrace along her journey as she sets out on her mission to aid in educating the population about the importance of eating what you grow and growing what you eat. To gain a greater appreciation for farming, the contestants of National Farm Queen 2018 journeyed to Clarendon and embarked on an exciting tour on one of the largest multi-cropped farm on the island, Imagination Farm.
Eager Contestants
The blazing sun did not faze the contestants who were eager to witness the operations of the farm which consists of approximately 220 acres of planted land with multiple crops such as sweet corn, sweet pepper, and cucumber just to name a few. "Imagination farm is a crop production facility and we also raise a lot of animals here as well. We do about four million birds a year and around 5,000 pigs that we put on the market," said CEO of the CB Group Mark Haskins. The CEO himself was treated to an entertaining dub created by each contestant which brought awareness to a number of issues surrounding agriculture in Jamaica.
"Come on ladies follow me," said the energetic and vibrant Farm Coordinator Donia Nembhard. Nembhard explained the intricate details of several crops grown on the farm from preparing the land to harvesting the finished product. The ladies were bursting with questions which focused on pest control, soil composition and the nitty-gritty of the science behind agriculture which Nembhard was pleased to answer.
The contestants were treated with sweet corn which they got the chance to eat straight from the plant. For many of them this was a new phenomenon which they were delighted to try. "Even though we have so many different personalities among the contestants, the competition really brings them together and creates a family," said Farm Queen chaperone Deneisha Smith.
The excitement of the tour tapered off with a thrilling tractor ride where the contestants were able to debut their lyrical skills by remixing popular songs to create a very catchy nutramix jingle. The farm tour not only educated the contestants, but allowed them to see the future of Jamaica which when left to the imagination is filled with prosperity.