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Gov't offers incentives to lure young people to farming
BY MARK CUMMINGS Observer senior reporter cummingsm@jamaicaobserver.com
Thursday, April 16, 2009
MONTEGO BAY, St James - Agriculture Minister Dr Christopher Tufton says the Government is placing much emphasis this fiscal year on getting more young people involved in farming.
"One of the initiatives that we are coming with - and we are going to be aggressive with it this year - is to help young people to look at agriculture as a business... to develop the principles of agriculture and production just as how we encourage them (youths) to go into other fields such as banking, insurance... to make money," Dr Tufton said at Monday's annual staging of the Montpelier Agricultural, Livestock and Industrial Show.
He said the government has established an initiative which will offer hundreds of young people incentives to become involved in agriculture.
"More than 300 young persons have applied under the initiative to date. We are going to give them land, we are helping them to develop plans, we are guiding them to get financing and we are helping them with marketing," the agriculture minister explained.
"We are essentially giving then a start in business and helping then to maintain a sustainable model so that they can be the catalyst to move the agricultural sector forward," the agriculture minister added.
Emphasising the government's commitment to the sector, Dr Tufton told the hundreds of farmers in attendance at Monday's agriculture show that the ministry was recruiting 14 animal health technicians who would be deployed throughout the island.
"These technicians will be supervised by the veterinary services division of the ministry of agriculture to provide farmers with basic medical care for animals that suffer from one ailment or another," he said.
He also announced that by the end of this month, 14 tractors will arrive in the island to boost the government's tractor leasing scheme.
The tractors, he later told the Observer, are being brought into the island at a cost of $50 million and will be used to assist in the preparation of lands for farmers at a "very low" cost.
He added that the government would also be importing other mechanised farming equipment in an effort to boost agricultural production and to increase the earnings of farmers.
Dr Tufton noted that over the past year, the ministry of agriculture had expanded its fleet of extension officers; registered more than 20,000 new farmers; significantly boosted the marketing arm of the ministry and registered more than 700 farmers' organisations.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...TO_FARMING.asp
BY MARK CUMMINGS Observer senior reporter cummingsm@jamaicaobserver.com
Thursday, April 16, 2009
MONTEGO BAY, St James - Agriculture Minister Dr Christopher Tufton says the Government is placing much emphasis this fiscal year on getting more young people involved in farming.
"One of the initiatives that we are coming with - and we are going to be aggressive with it this year - is to help young people to look at agriculture as a business... to develop the principles of agriculture and production just as how we encourage them (youths) to go into other fields such as banking, insurance... to make money," Dr Tufton said at Monday's annual staging of the Montpelier Agricultural, Livestock and Industrial Show.
He said the government has established an initiative which will offer hundreds of young people incentives to become involved in agriculture.
"More than 300 young persons have applied under the initiative to date. We are going to give them land, we are helping them to develop plans, we are guiding them to get financing and we are helping them with marketing," the agriculture minister explained.
"We are essentially giving then a start in business and helping then to maintain a sustainable model so that they can be the catalyst to move the agricultural sector forward," the agriculture minister added.
Emphasising the government's commitment to the sector, Dr Tufton told the hundreds of farmers in attendance at Monday's agriculture show that the ministry was recruiting 14 animal health technicians who would be deployed throughout the island.
"These technicians will be supervised by the veterinary services division of the ministry of agriculture to provide farmers with basic medical care for animals that suffer from one ailment or another," he said.
He also announced that by the end of this month, 14 tractors will arrive in the island to boost the government's tractor leasing scheme.
The tractors, he later told the Observer, are being brought into the island at a cost of $50 million and will be used to assist in the preparation of lands for farmers at a "very low" cost.
He added that the government would also be importing other mechanised farming equipment in an effort to boost agricultural production and to increase the earnings of farmers.
Dr Tufton noted that over the past year, the ministry of agriculture had expanded its fleet of extension officers; registered more than 20,000 new farmers; significantly boosted the marketing arm of the ministry and registered more than 700 farmers' organisations.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...TO_FARMING.asp