Agriculture and Technology - Where worlds collide

All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind

Joseph Conrad, A Personal Record

Today is the second day of the Denbigh Agricultural Show in Denbigh, Clarendon. Most likely with calls for a State of Emergency for Agriculture as stated by contributor Jeffrey Hall, Managing Director of Jamaica Producers Group in the article “Rescue the Perishing”, published Sunday August 1^st 2010 by Jeffrey Hall, The Sunday Gleaner.

This coincides with the Denbigh Agricultural Show to boost public interest in the Agriculture Sector, more people from the snobbish Uptown parts of Kingston will be on hand, especially as there are indications that many of these well-to-do investors have cash on hand.

This after pulling their money out of Government of Jamaica Debt Instruments and are looking to invest in Agriculture for export as suggested by the Jamaica Exporters Association (JEA) president Titus Evans in the article “JDX Makes exporting more attractive”, published Wednesday, April 21, 2010, The Jamaica Observer.

NCB (National Commercial Bank) lowering of their base lending rates by three (3) percentage points from 20.75% to 17.75% as stated on Prime Time News, aired Thursday July 25^th 2010, Television Jamaica and confirmed in the article “NCB cuts as loan portflio declines”, published Sunday July25 2010, The Sunday Gleaner, Business Section is spurring that interest, no doubt.

And as per usual, this article is accompanied by a bevy of other articles in the same issue of The Sunday Gleaner complaining of all the ills of Jamaican Agricultural Sector, from praedial larceny, allocating land resources for Private Sector, suggestions on how to improve the water resources available to farmers, too numerous and annoyingly repetitive as the Denbigh Agricultural Show is boring and complaint laden with no concrete technology based solutions to solve these problems and chart a path towards sustainable productivity from the land.

Most of us Tertiary graduates are well aware that Agriculture is severely undervalued by the Upper Classes in society and poorly managed and is in serious need of investment and a change of image from its slavery-esque upbringing to a more modern Tertiary educated visage, albeit attracting Tertiary students to Agriculture is necessary as the Editor posits in his Editorial entitled “EDITORIAL: Declare a State of Emergency for Agriculture”, published Sunday August 1^st 2010 by the Editor, The Sunday Gleaner.

This is an interesting and very well balanced idea, albeit it has no legal backing whatsoever, both locally and internationally, and is only good for the usual pontification around Denbigh Agricultural Show time, when all of Jamaica and John Public become once again concerned about Agriculture.

We do have unique products, such as Sea Island Cotton, the quality of which grows in Jamaica and is handpicked, like our unique Blue Mountain Coffee, which says much for Organically Grown Produce as stated in the article “Geographical Miracle - World's best cotton unique to the Caribbean” published Sunday July 18 2010 by Christopher Serju, Gleaner Writer, The Sunday Gleaner.

However, this time around it feels a little different, as Dr. Christopher Tufton, Minister of Agriculture, has something to crow about in the form of securing the John Hancock of COMPLANT, a Venture Capitalists responsible for the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium based on limited information about them from the People’s Republic of China in a lucrative deal to purchase the remaining unproductive sugar estates to the tune of US$10 million as stated in the article “Gov't seals sugar deal with Chinese firm”, published Saturday, July 31, 2010 BY PATRICK FOSTER, Observer writer, The Jamaica Observer.

A follow-on, pardon the cricket pun if you will, from a previous newspaper article “Sugar Rush”, published Wednesday July 4^th 2010, The Sunday Gleaner and confirmed by the article “Sweet China Deal”, published Wednesday July 4^th 2010, , by Alicia Dunkley, Senior Staff Reporter, The Jamaica Observer.

With Coffee as stated in the article “Gov’t signs US$148-m coffee deal with Chinese entities”, published Wednesday July 4^th 2010, by Patrick Foster, Observer Writer, The Jamaica Observer and confirmed by the article “A Coffee Break for Ja”, published Wednesday July 4^th 2010, The Sunday Gleaner

Rice too as stated in the article “Doing it the Rice Way”, published Wednesday July 4^th 2010, The Sunday Gleaner and confirmed by the article “Jamaica signs coffee supply deal with Chinese Firm”, published Wednesday July 4^th 2010, The Jamaica Observer are also on the list for divestment to the Government of the People’s Republic of China interests

The Agriculture Sector may finally be getting the kind of funding on a level similar to Senator Barack Obama, President of the United States of America and his commitment of US$1 billion worth of Venture Capital money to Silicon Valley to aid in the development of economy-of-scale Solar Power Technologies as stated in the article “Obama commits billions to solar firms”, published July 4, 2010 11:34 AM PDT by Reuters, CNET News - Green Tech.

Now it seems Senator Audley Shaw, Minister of Finance, after pleading for the Big Three (3) Banks to lower their base interest rates and thereby their interest rate spreads as stated in the article “Come on, commercial Banks!”, published Friday, July 16, 2010, BY PAT ROXBOROUGH-WRIGHT, The Jamaica Observer has finally gotten his wish

Albeit due to external market forces as opposed to his own words, a clever politician’s sleight of hand as stated on Prime Time News, aired Thursday July 25^th 2010, Television Jamaica and confirmed in the article “NCB cuts as loan portflio declines”, published Sunday July25 2010, The Sunday Gleaner, Business Section

Further cementing his wish for economic stability yet denying his ambition of growth to trounce the naysayers of the JDX (Jamaica Debt Exchange) as stated in the article “Stability in the bag, investment now the target - Shaw”, published Sunday August 1 2010, The Jamaica Observer.

This is possibly the most interesting Emancipation and Independence staging of the Denbigh Agricultural Show to date, as for once the politicians and their ambitions appear lawful and beneficial both in terms of earning foreign exchange but also providing employment to a new generation of farmers.

Albeit part of their strategies, like the State of Emergency, appear on the face of it geared to secure a Second Term, it is nonetheless in the interest of the Jamaica People to support these drives for growth in a sector that, like Wireless Broadband in Telecoms and All-Electric Cars in 2011, is set to explode as the threat of a Double Dip Recession looms and Food will be short in supply………seedlings to be planted for another article.

My only grouse……….. I still hear no mention of Spring Plains, Clarendon……………….