Lorin Gayle (left), owner of Fairview Farms, St. Elizabeth, shows off his 'supreme champion bull' to Senator Norman Grant (right), president of the Jamaica Agricultural Society, and Gilbert McLean, the Cayman Islands' Minister of Agriculture, at the 51st Denbigh Agri-Industrial Show in Clarendon, last year.
-File photo
Damion Mitchell, Farmers Weekly Co-ordinator
ALL IS set for the 52nd annual Denbigh Agri-Industrial show, which gets under way in Clarendon at 9:00 a.m. today, according to Senator Norman Grant, president of the Jamaica Agricultural Society the organising body.
He also said that several new measures would be introduced to ensure greater levels of success at the show.
MORE ENTRY POINTS
He told Farmers Weekly that the number of entry points to the grounds has been increased from four to six, while special arrangements have been established to encourage optimal revenues from ticket sales, which will be handled privately.
According to Senator Grant, auditors will being contracted to monitor daily ticket sales, and fewer complimentary passes were being distributed compared to
previous years.
Children will be required to pay $100 to enter the grounds, while adults will pay $300.
It is expected that more than 50,000 patrons, including five Caribbean Government ministers with responsibility for agriculture and their entourages, will attend the event. Those confirmed ministers are Gilbert McLean from the Cayman Islands; Erskine Griffiths Barbados, Servulo Baezo Belize; Neleta Butterfield Bermuda and Roger Clarke Jamaica.
"This is part of the mission to move Denbigh to an international event," said Senator Grant, adding that the JAS projects to raise $5 million each day in ticket sales.
Pointing to the theme for Denbigh 2004, 'We are what we eat, so let's eat Jamaican', Senator Grant said food from outside of the region would not be permitted to be on display at the show, and that the recently established farmers' market would operate at Denbigh throughout the show.
MAIN ADDRESS
Prime Minister P.J. Patterson is expected to deliver the main address on the opening day, with Agriculture Minister Roger Clarke slated for tomorrow and Governor-General Sir Howard Cooke for Monday.
In the meantime, Senator Grant is promising an even better show for next year. "We have a 56-acre property in Clarendon and we are going to convert that to the benefit of the Jamaican people," he said.
