186 School Gardens to be Established

The Government is to partner with local fertiliser manufacturer, Newport Fersan (Jamaica) Limited, to establish 186 gardens in public schools across the island.

This was disclosed by Minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. J. C. Hutchinson, during a tour of the company’s Wherry Wharf complex at Newport East, in Kingston on June 14.

He said the gardens, which will be established this year, will be able to provide crops for the schools’ breakfast programme.

Mr. Hutchinson added that the school garden programme will assist in encouraging students and teachers to consume locally grown produce.

He said it will also give the students a sense of responsibility and help them to develop traits of teamwork and cooperation.

“We want to teach the students the best practices in agriculture, and also allow  extension officers to use the gardens as demonstration plots,” he told journalists following the tour.

He added the Ministry will be working with the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) to undertake the initiative.

For his part, Managing Director, Newport Fersan, Dennis Valdez, said his company will continue to collaborate with the Government on initiatives that will benefit the agricultural sector.

“This is a project that we welcome, because we are starting with our children who will become the men and women of our society,” he said.

The initiative forms part of the Government’s National School Garden Programme, which aims to get young people to recognise and accept the role they must play in food production, to select careers in agriculture, and to see agriculture as a viable business option.

During the tour, Mr Hutchinson and his delegation visited several areas, including the offloading, storage and production areas.

Newport Fersan (Jamaica) Limited, which began its operations in Jamaica in 2004, is the leading local and Caribbean manufacturer and distributor of fertiliser.