St Mary 4-H clubs hailed for work in the parish
ST MARY, Jamaica— Executive Director of the Jamaica 4-H Clubs, Peter Thompson, has lauded the parish management of the 4-H group for the hard work that is being implemented in St Mary.
Thompson was speaking at the St Mary 4-H Achievement Day held last Friday at the St Mary’s High School.
“It’s a very good look and a great prospect for agriculture in Jamaica. The schools have made strides in the value added products,” Thompson said.
The executive director cited the various uses of sweet potatoes which was the product used by the clubs for their Achievement Day.
“Based on what I have seen here with the by-products, such as the puddings, cakes and confectionery, there is great potential to strengthen capacity at the farm level to produce, get more agro processors involved so these products can be commercialised,” Thompson suggested.
He highlighted that for 2024-2025 the organisation will be embarking on significant capacity building through its home economics unit to work with the schools and having support to the school gardens.
”We are working with the clubs so they can bring out the best value-added products from the various agriculture products in St Mary,” the 4-H director said.
“Our home economics unit will be working closely with the schools’ home economics department to see what they have to take from the value chain approach, agro processing, marketing, distribution and consumption,” Thompson said.
He elaborated that this would be a boost to farmers for production, and that the use of technology will attract young people into agriculture and help with good farming techniques as climate change is affecting the industry.
“As you are aware climate change is an issue so we will be employing virtual agriculture practice, hydroponics, management of water, water harvesting etc., with a selected variety of crops that can withstand drought and pests,” Thompson shared.
He further outlined that the 4-H group will be working alongside other stakeholders such as the Jamaica Agricultural Society and the Rural Agricultural Development Authority to boost farming in the parish.
-Ingrid Henry
