We are HEROES – Thomas P Lecky
Jamaica Hope, Jamaica Red, Jamaica Brahman, and Jamaica Black are a few phrases that should come to mind when you hear the name TP Lecky. Born Thomas Lecky in 1904, the brilliant Jamaican scientist revolutionised the Jamaican Dairy Industry through is love for animal husbandry.
Dr Lecky spent his childhood days on a small family farm in the hills of Portland. After completing elementary school, he went on to attend the Jamaica School of Agriculture at Hope, where he developed a passion for agricultural science. His academic career later took him to the McGill University and the University of Toronto in Canada.
In 1925, Dr Lecky returned to Jamaica to work at Hope where at the time, there was an issue with the cattle — a mix of early Spanish and British imports from India.
They were resistant to the tick fever disease and could pull the weight of the carts, but they were lacking as producers of milk and quality beef. As a result, it was necessary to produce a new breed of cattle that could produce sufficient amounts of milk and a high standard of beef for consumption; in addition to their strength and immunity to the tick fever. This was necessary to support the livelihood of the Jamaican farmer and his family.
In 1952 at the Bodles Agricultural Station, Dr Lecky paraded his new breed the Jamaica Hope. This breed was a mix of the British Jersey (small) with genes from the Holstein (heavy milk producer) and the Indian Sahiwal (disease resistant) and perfect to raise in the backyard of the Jamaican farmer. The Jamaica Red, Jamaica Brahman and Jamaica Black are beef cattle, produced for their beef content, while still meeting the demands of the Jamaican farmer who needed a herd for their strength and disease resistance.
Dr Lecky was awarded a PhD from the University of Edinburgh for his seminal work in genetics and cattle breeding, the first Jamaican to gain a doctorate in agriculture. Later, he was awarded the Norman Manley Award for Excellence in Agriculture, the Order of Merit and the Order of the British Empire (OBE) before dying in 1994.
In 2003, the Jamaican Government posthumously awarded Dr Lecky the National Medal for Science and Technology.
