KINGSTON, Jamaica— In a bid to meet the demands of a changing agricultural sector, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining will be rolling out more scholarships for agricultural students this year across several key areas.

Portfolio Minister, Floyd Green, made the disclosure while speaking at the College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE) during day one of their Founders’ Weekend on Friday.

Green said he has given a directive for his team to analyse “where we are seeing tremendous gaps in our educational system in relation to our programmes that we are building out, what talent pool do we need in the next two, three or five years and to draft some scholarships around that”.

“So, you will see later this year that we will outline a whole raft of new scholarships to fill some of those gaps that we have picked up in relation to the training needed to move agriculture forward,” he stated.

Furthermore, Green said the ministry has recognised the critical role it plays in helping students to acquire the practical knowledge and experience in their relevant field of study.

“As such, we look at different modalities including internships at the ministry for our students here at CASE where you’re exposed to areas and activities such as our extension services, inspection and field visits,” he explained.

Green informed that this initiative is also being expanded, and that the ministry will be doing more to offer assistance for students to study in the areas that it deems important.

Last year, the Jamaica Dairy Development Board, an agency of the ministry, provided assistance for three students at CASE to pursue a Bachelor of Science degree in General Agriculture and Livestock Studies.

“You’re going to see much more, because we are looking to rebuild our dairy industry,” Green said.

Founders’ Weekend at CASE is being held from January 26 to 28 and will see a roster of activities taking place at the storied institution.

Among them will be the handing out of several scholarships by the Alumni Association and the Ole Farmers Association, North America, on day two, Saturday, January 27.

— JIS