“There
is no truth that young people are no longer interested in farming. The
universities, they are now seeing tremendous business opportunities in the
agricultural sector and the good thing is, we have a number of
government-funded programmes that are now able to facilitate and support
persons who wish to pursue these areas”
Executive Director of
the Jamaica 4-H Clubs, Dr Ronald Blake, following the 65th annual staging of
the Denbigh Agricultural show in Clarendon
Farming
in Jamaica may be seeing an infusion of young people fascinated by growing
plants and animals.
So
says Dr Ronald Blake, executive director of the Jamaica 4-H Clubs who says
interest in farming is on the rise among the young as reported in the article “Bright
Future For Farming - Sector Reports 40 Per Cent Increase In Youth Training”,
published Wednesday August 9, 2017 by Jodi-Ann Gilpin, The Jamaica Gleaner.
First
watch this video of Denbigh Agricultural Show 2017.
Dr
Ronald Blake, who spoke at the Denbigh Agricultural Show 2017 backed up his
statement with stats from RADA:
1. 40%
increase in the number of youth being trained in areas of agriculture
2. 8%
per annum growth in the 4-H movement
More
educated persons are entering the farming sector based on data from RADA (Rural
Agricultural Development Authority) as noted by Dr Ronald Blake: “This is data
that we have derived from the Rural Agricultural Development Authority database,
as well as the agricultural census. We are also seeing where the farming
population of Jamaica is becoming more educated and that's because more and
more youth are entering the profession, and these young people have at least a
secondary education”.
Dr Ronald Blake and
RADA Stats – Younger Farmers attracted by Technology in farming
This
also means that the average age of farmers is trending down from 60 years old
as more educated young people enter the field.
So
says Dr Ronald Blake, quote: “We have seen an incremental increase in the
number of farmers with tertiary training. But the macro indicator is the fact
that the average age of the Jamaican farmer is no longer 60 years old. Based on
the 4-H initiative, we are able to pull that down and we are now at 47. 8 per
cent (of the 60-year-old age group). It is among the lowest in the world”.
More young people are entering the field due to the exciting and new advances for the agricultural sector such as Vertical Farming, the use of Agricultural Towers and Robotics to take the labour out of farming as explained in my blog article entitled “How Australia's University of Sydney Livestock Farmbot heralds Efficient Agricultural Towers”.
Farming
is now being seen as a viable economic option for youth; improvement in
business and entrepreneurial options in the last three years makes the field
potentially a huge money earner for unemployed youth with land inherited from
grand-parents.
Noteworthy
too, is the improvement in the use of technological innovations such as drones
as described in my blog
article entitled “Why
Agrocaelum and Hi-Pro Herald for JCAA allowing Drone Racing in Jamaica”.
More
high school students are pursuing Farming up to the Tertiary level at CASE
(College of Agriculture, Science and Education) a direct indicator of this
increased interest in farming to quote Dr Ronald Blake: “The 4-H movement is growing by about eight
per cent per year. What we have seen in terms of opting for agriculture at the
tertiary level, is a 40 per cent increase and this is attributed to enrolment
at CASE (College of Agriculture, Science and Education). What we have also seen
is the constant increase, over the last three years, in the number of young
people entering farming”.
Interesting
to see what innovative farming techniques the next set of Farmers will utilize
to automate Farming, be it robotics or Agricultural Towers made from old
buildings!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment