Vernon: There is money in farming
Published:Wednesday | April 20, 2022 | 12:06 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
AS JAMAICA slowly returns to some semblance of normality following the past two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, Montego Bay’s Acting Mayor Richard Vernon is urging young people to get involved in farming, in order to bolster Jamaica’s agriculture sector as a viable business.
Vernon made the call on Monday while addressing the 2022 staging of the Montpelier Agricultural Show in Montpelier, St James. The event, which was held under the theme ‘Building back agriculture stronger’, marked the resumption of agricultural shows across Jamaica since the pandemic forced a suspension of all such activities.
“The world is poised to start the Fourth Revolution, but too many of our farming communities are stuck in the Second Revolution. Therefore, agriculture becomes unattractive to our younger generation, driving youths away from the practice, which places the future of agriculture in limbo,” Vernon said in his address, referencing the Fourth Industrial Revolution which focuses on rapid changes to technology, industries and societal patterns in the 21st century.
“For agriculture to be sustainable, youths must be fully engaged, not because they cannot find jobs, but because they take it as a primary business. Money is in it, it is a profession, and it will make our economy thrive,” Vernon added. “I call upon the youngsters of our wonderful municipality to roll up your sleeves and get involved in the agricultural sector, which is critical to safeguarding the country’s food security and increasing growth in the sector.”
The acting mayor argued that Jamaica’s long-standing issue of unemployment should be a thing of the past due to the available lands for farming.
SAFEGUARDING FOOD SECURITY
“With so much arable land in Jamaica, unemployment should be zero. We should be sustaining ourselves and supplying the Caribbean region, and we need to have at least 80 per cent of our agricultural sector in the third revolution,” said Vernon. “I encourage the youths to take up the government grants, the lands that the Government is providing for agriculture, and the capacity development that it is offering, to bolster agriculture and to fill the gaps in food production.”
Vernon was echoing a call made earlier this year by Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Pearnel Charles Jr, who called for youth involvement in developing solutions to the challenges being faced by the agriculture sector.
Over the years, concerns have been raised among agriculture stakeholders that young people continue to shy away from the sector, seeing it as an unattractive vocation. There have also been concerns that younger farmers are not coming in to take the place of older farmers as the latter group gradually dies out over time.
Last year January, the Jamaica 4-H Clubs sought to introduce new programmes in 2021 to engage more young Jamaicans in agriculture, by training 500 youth farmers over a three-month period.
In the meantime, Charles, who also spoke at the Montpelier Agricultural Show, said that Jamaicans can know wealth if they get involved in personal farming.
“We are going to make sure that we pump money, strength and support into our farmers. Everybody can be a farmer, and every Jamaica boy and girl should be able to say that they have planted something that they can reap,” said Charles. “There is no poor in Jamaica, because if you live in Jamaica, you can go next door or open your own door and pick a mango or pick a breadfruit. You cannot be poor if you are in Jamaica and you are a farmer.”