News Date: June 23 2016
Opposition Spokesman on Agriculture Dr Dayton Campbell says the government should make agricultural science a mandatory subject in high schools arguing that agriculture is more than just “tilling the soil”.
According to Campbell, young Jamaicans should be taught to recognise that they can have lucrative careers in the field.
Making his contribution to the Sectoral Debate, Campbell making the subject mandatory would be one way of ensuring that young Jamaicans “break the cycle of poverty”.
The MP for the largely farming constituency of St Ann North West also said that agriculture is critical to Jamaica’s development given the number employed in the sector.
The Jamaica Agricultural Society has said there are more than 200,000 registered farmers with thousands more unregistered ones.
Capital investment in agriculture has declined over the years significantly affecting production.
The intensification of the climate change process and diversification issues have also been impacting the sector’s growth.
News Source:Â Jamaica Gleaner
