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Home | Involvement of youth in agriculture critical to fulfilling Ministry’s mandate, says Charles Jr
Agriculture and Fisheries Minister, Pearnel Charles Jr. (centre), poses with the 2021/2022 honour roll students from Hopewell High School, at the school’s prize-giving ceremony held on Thursday, March 17, 2022.
Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Pearnel Charles Jr, says that the involvement of youth in agriculture is critical to the fulfilment of the Ministry’s mandate in helping to build an inclusive, sustainable and competitive sector.
He was speaking at the prize-giving ceremony at Hopewell High School, held last Thursday, March 17, 2022, celebrating some of the school’s top achievers in various academic and vocational disciplines throughout the 2021/2022 academic period.
While encouraging the students to be bold and focused in the pursuit of their dreams, Minister Charles Jr also encouraged them to consider a future in agriculture.
“Farming in Jamaica presents one of the most awesome opportunities to give back while becoming a millionaire”, stated the Agriculture and Fisheries Minister.
He highlighted that farming is much more that the conventional view of a ‘farmer in a straw hat, with baggy clothes and dirty hands’.
“Yes, that’s a part of it but farming is moving towards agro-processing and the different aspects of the value chain,” said Charles Jr.
He urged the students to also make note of one of the key lessons from the pandemic which is the increasing need for food security.
“We are focused on developing Jamaica’s opportunity in terms of producing food for ourselves for the world, maximizing and providing healthy food for you, the students, your family, communities, the world,” mentioned Charles Jr.
He lauded the school for its agricultural initiatives through its 4-H Club and expressed his hope to see future agronomists, farmers, soil scientists, researchers and livestock farmers emerging from Hopewell High School.
The Hanover-based institution is noted for having a vibrant 4-H Club with some 500 participants. The school has also channelled agricultural engagement through the development of a thriving school farm, which includes a livestock unit consisting of rabbits, broilers, layers and goats as well as the cultivation of a vegetable farm, consisting of cabbage, pak choi, callaloo, Scotch bonnet pepper and tomato. A portion of the produce from the farm supplies the canteen as well as supermarkets in the area.
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