(FP)

Minister of Agriculture, Senator Haynesley Benn, is appealing to young people to play a more active role in farming if this country is to achieve viable and sustainable agricultural industries.

Addressing “Harvest Celebrations” at Selah Primary School, Content, St. Lucy, this morning, Mr. Benn said farming was especially important as it relates to food security and food sovereignty.

“The need to encourage young people to be gainfully employed in agriculture cannot be overstated.  We have an aging farming community and it is necessary for young people to engage in this noble profession…”

Expressing “delight” at the hard work the students “invested in” staging the “Harvest Celebrations” which was held under the theme “Agriculture in Our Community,” Mr. Benn told the children that they displayed the strong linkages that exist between arts, craft, science, agriculture, culture as well as the environment.

According to the Senator, the Ministries of Agriculture and Education and Human Resource Development were in the process of collaborating with regards to establishing a training institution that would provide “top rate” instruction in agriculture to our young people.

“It is envisaged that over time, the best agricultural practices, techniques, methodologies and technologies would be instituted, so that the best and most productive use can be made of our agricultural resources,” the Senator said. He added that the Ministry of Agriculture would “continue to remain focused on providing an enabling environment for agriculture to prosper and, for agriculturalists and potential agriculturalists to experience the feeling of inclusion in the work of the Ministry…”

He encouraged the pupils to get involved in such programmes as the 4-H movement, as it was one of the main foundations for reviving agriculture in primary schools.
He urged them to continue aiming for excellence and not rest on their laurels.

“You cannot stop performing; you must let your work shine even brighter,” he told the students.

tblackman@barbados.gov.bb

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