Marlene McPherson, Gleaner Writer
Tashanna Williams (left), one of the agricultural teachers at the Paul Bogle High School in St. Thomas, seeks advice from Lennox Bartlett of the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) on caring for crops. - PHOTOS BY MARLENE MCPHERSON
ST. THOMAS:
Today, we continue our special 12-month comprehensive coverage of agriculture, which is a vital part of the Jamaican economy.
WHILE INTEREST in agriculture among the youths is very low, this is not so for some students at the Paul Bogle High School, which has a vibrant agricultural programme.
The school, which is located in the Morant community, about two miles from Morant Bay, has been running a successful programme for the last few years. The enthusiasm of both students and teachers involved in the programme was evident on a recent visit to the school, as they worked as a team to produce and harvest the results of their labour.
When The Gleaner visited the school, the students were busy packing and removing cassava in bags to a vehicle for transportation to the Rural Agricultural Development Authority's (RADA) processing plant in Twickenham Park, where it is processed for making bammies, pancakes and gari or cassava chips. This is just one of the places where the students sell what they produce on the three-acre farm. They also sell to members of the community and schools.
CROPS GROWN
Crops such as corn, plantain, pak choi, melon, pumpkin, gungo peas, okra, lettuce and cassava are usually grown by the students.
According to Richard Williams, a teacher of agriculture for six years, he is motivated by the excellent response of the students to the programme.
Tashanna Williams, the other agriculture teacher expressed similar sentiments. "Students are showing interest, they are eager to learn. They see the importance of agriculture and most of them have farming plots at home," she told The Gleaner. "I feel very good when students receive seedlings and they reap crops from it and then report to me about it."
But Ms. Williams emphasised that she is motivated mainly by the achievements of the slower students. "I enjoy working here especially with the slow students, because I understand them, and I am able to get a lot of work from them," she explained.
Due to the response of the students, the teachers pointed out that the school formulated a three-year development plan for the agriculture programme. The plan involves:
Planting 50 citrus trees
Establishing an animal science curriculum
Purchasing a goat
Building a poultry house for 50 birds in conjunction with the 4-H Club.
Constructing a proper drainage system to get rid of the excess water from the farm
Developing a proper labelling system for plants on the farm.
Establishing an area to rear pigs
Purchasing a calf.
Identifying and establishing a green house.
So far, the school farm has 32 citrus trees, 500 capacity poultry house, a goat and a proper plant labelling system. The teachers reveal that nothing is wasted on the farm, as the litter from the chickens are used as manure, and the crops are planted on rotation. The beautifully laid-out farm also had young gungo trees and a number of coconut trees.
