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Ready, set, hoe! - Five farmers to plant seeds of agri revolution
Published: Monday | March 9, 2009
Tyrone Reid, Staff Reporter
An army of young farmers being assembled by the Ministry of Agriculture under the Young Farmers' Project will today start their mission to help make Jamaica a net exporter of food.
A small brigade of five will kick-start the operation with a ground offensive on the earmarked terrain at Clarendon's Ebony Park.
Under the project, each farmer will be given five acres of land. Hershell Brown, project director of the Agricultural Support Services Project (ASSP) in the ministry, revealed that a second gang of five should join the cultivating battalion in two weeks.
He explained that the land for the next five participants was being prepared.
The initial batch of 10 already enlisted in the farming army was chosen in January this year. The programme targets persons in the 18-35 age cohort. While the initiative received an "over-whelming response", the ASSP, formed in 2001 with a mandate of strengthening the competitiveness of Jamaican agriculture, is still on a recruitment drive.
"We are hoping over the next 12 months to have one such project in every parish and, as such, we are still accepting applications," Brown said.
Full-time farmers
He explained that the ministry wants the participants to be full-time farmers who see the profession as a career of choice rather than a hobby.
He believes the project is another step in the country's journey to becoming a net exporter of food. Jamaica is currently a net importer of food as the lion's share of what citizens eat comes from overseas. The statistic also includes food that can be grown in the country.
In addition to the five acres allotted to each young farmer, they also receive the necessary infrastructure, technical support plus markets for their produce.
Talk about having your cake and eating it.
Cheap but not free
Participating in the programme is cheap, but not free. "They will pay for the on-farm irrigation and land preparation," Brown pointed out.
"Their job is to provide the working capital and management of these five-acre blocks," he added.
The young cultivators, who will have to operate the farms like a business, must find the funds to purchase seedlings and fertilisers, as well as underwrite labour-related costs.
The farmers will be charged a lease of $2,000 per acre per annum. However, the cultivators will not need to pay the money up front because the ministry is offering a payment plan that requires no funds from their pockets until the produce from the allotted lands is sold.
"We made it so that it is not burdensome on them," he said.
Brown warned that the project had no room for slackers and that non-performers would be kicked out and replaced by "people who are willing to work".
The crops of focus under this phase of the project will be hot pepper, ginger and sweet potato. Brown is confident that pepper will be hot on the market.
Next year, the project might have a different group of crops. That, Brown said, will be determined by market demand.
How to get started
Persons interested in the programme can write to the Young Farmers' Project c/o the Agricultural Support Services Project at the Ministry of Agriculture; or call 927-1506.
Published: Monday | March 9, 2009
Tyrone Reid, Staff Reporter
An army of young farmers being assembled by the Ministry of Agriculture under the Young Farmers' Project will today start their mission to help make Jamaica a net exporter of food.
A small brigade of five will kick-start the operation with a ground offensive on the earmarked terrain at Clarendon's Ebony Park.
Under the project, each farmer will be given five acres of land. Hershell Brown, project director of the Agricultural Support Services Project (ASSP) in the ministry, revealed that a second gang of five should join the cultivating battalion in two weeks.
He explained that the land for the next five participants was being prepared.
The initial batch of 10 already enlisted in the farming army was chosen in January this year. The programme targets persons in the 18-35 age cohort. While the initiative received an "over-whelming response", the ASSP, formed in 2001 with a mandate of strengthening the competitiveness of Jamaican agriculture, is still on a recruitment drive.
"We are hoping over the next 12 months to have one such project in every parish and, as such, we are still accepting applications," Brown said.
Full-time farmers
He explained that the ministry wants the participants to be full-time farmers who see the profession as a career of choice rather than a hobby.
He believes the project is another step in the country's journey to becoming a net exporter of food. Jamaica is currently a net importer of food as the lion's share of what citizens eat comes from overseas. The statistic also includes food that can be grown in the country.
In addition to the five acres allotted to each young farmer, they also receive the necessary infrastructure, technical support plus markets for their produce.
Talk about having your cake and eating it.
Cheap but not free
Participating in the programme is cheap, but not free. "They will pay for the on-farm irrigation and land preparation," Brown pointed out.
"Their job is to provide the working capital and management of these five-acre blocks," he added.
The young cultivators, who will have to operate the farms like a business, must find the funds to purchase seedlings and fertilisers, as well as underwrite labour-related costs.
The farmers will be charged a lease of $2,000 per acre per annum. However, the cultivators will not need to pay the money up front because the ministry is offering a payment plan that requires no funds from their pockets until the produce from the allotted lands is sold.
"We made it so that it is not burdensome on them," he said.
Brown warned that the project had no room for slackers and that non-performers would be kicked out and replaced by "people who are willing to work".
The crops of focus under this phase of the project will be hot pepper, ginger and sweet potato. Brown is confident that pepper will be hot on the market.
Next year, the project might have a different group of crops. That, Brown said, will be determined by market demand.
How to get started
Persons interested in the programme can write to the Young Farmers' Project c/o the Agricultural Support Services Project at the Ministry of Agriculture; or call 927-1506.
