Member of Parliament (MP) for St James Southern, Homer Davis, is recommending that additional steps be taken to incentivise agriculture, in order to attract more young people.

“The cohort of farmers in my constituency is at an average age of 60 years old and it is time to refresh, reset and re-energise the sector by making agriculture more attractive [and] economically viable to our young people,” he said.

Davis, who is also Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister (Western Region), was making his contribution to the State of the Constituency Debate in the House of Representatives, on October 12.

He suggested that more should be done to provide lands, through lease, to engage more young people in the field.

“There are thousands of hectares of arable lands; they are all idle and I would say to the Ministry of Agriculture, if we are seriously looking at food security for Jamaica, we should identify some of these lands, and not just identify these lands but to engage a younger generation of farmers,” Davis recommended.

“By doing so, we can extend to these young farmers long-term leases on these at peppercorn rates. The Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) knows the landscape and I would recommend that a comprehensive study of the soil type in the area of Southern St. James [be done] and based on their findings, make these lands available to young farmers at peppercorn rates,” Davis added. He pointed out that approximately 200 farmers have been assisted this year.

“We have supported several of our farmers with technical support, working with RADA and have donated seeds, fertilisers, baby chicks, equipment, and other farm supplies,” he noted.

Meanwhile, Davis also called for the construction of sub fire stations in Cambridge and Maroon Town.

“To get from the Barnett Street Fire Station to Cambridge is a 35 to 40-minute drive, and that’s Cambridge proper; to get to Maroon Town is a similar time period. We need to make sure that we have first responders in these rural townships that can deal with immediate fire or immediate emergencies,” he said.

He informed that since the start of the year, there have been 41 fires in his constituency, resulting in millions of dollars in losses.