A certified farmer is more productive – Green
Published:Thursday | November 28, 2019 | 12:33 AMOlivia Brown/Gleaner Writer
Clarendon residents earlier this week benefitted from the agricultural assessment day hosted by The HEART Trust/NTA, Ebony Park Academy.
Residents were assessed for prior certification in agricultural programmes such as crop and livestock production, butchery, and agro-food processing. The event, the first agricultural assessment day staged in the parish, was held on the grounds of the Denbigh Showground.
Robert Green, HEART Trust/NTA’s southwestern regional manager , said it is important for farmers to be equipped with knowledge of pesticides and producing crops under restricted conditions. Speaking on the importance of hosting the event, “There are a number of crops being produced now that require farmers to be knowledgeable and certified in order to be able to provide the hotel sector, and so they need the knowledge of pesticides and weedicides,” Green said, adding that a certified farmer is a more productive farmer.
Sector of growth
Asserting that agriculture is a sector of growth for the country, Registrar at the Ebony Park Academy Yvonne Ramsay noted that the field is lucrative and beneficial. “We want to ensure that persons will know that agriculture will benefit them, and being certified is a very valuable asset.”
Zeco Brown, HEART Trust’s recruitment officer, told The Gleaner that there is usually a major turnout recorded in Clarendon. He said that the HEART Trust team has also employed strategies to engage companies in having employees attain certification in HEART Trust NTA’s programmes.
The recruitment team is imploring residents to become part of the assessment process, stating that the agricultural programmes are current and fitting to labour- market needs. The team noted that individuals are also being sought to become certified in butchery and meat cutting, noting that there is a high demand for the skill both locally and internationally.
The HEART Trust/NTA Ebony Park Academy is slated to host its next agricultural assessment day in Lionel Town in the parish on Friday.