A HISTORICAL MOMENT FOR AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION DIVISION by Carol-Faye Bynoe-George
Today, July 12th has been branded as a significant milestone for the Agricultural Extension Division (AED) within the Ministry of Agriculture. History was made and something to celebrate by all related parties such as the farmers, staff of AED to include the Chief Extension Officer, the Extension Officer, field or district officers, and other auxiliary staff members.
Director Bailey in his brief remarks reiterated the importance of the exercise and expressed his gratitude to All involved. “I must reiterate and share the same sentiments as previously stated by the chair. Today is a historical day for the Extension Division and one that was long overdue”, Director Bailey announced.
The Farmers Identification Registration actually begun some years ago but due to technical difficulties was put on a long hold. In recent times the project was revisited and the division was commissioned by Minister E P Chet Greene to get it done. “Recognizing that were hurdles, it is now a necessity for the ministry to have a proper database and registry of ALL our producers. I want to commend the first hundred farmers and those who are still come forward to get registered. Be assured that these cards are not for taxation purposes but this process would help us to better assist our producers”, said Minster Greene.
There are tremendous benefits that these cards can and will afford and as time permits these will be revealed. It is the ministry’s intention of engaging with our farmers, fisher folks and even agro-processors as we unify in the alleviation of food scarcity by increasing our productivity and import much less. The quest in Food Security and Safety, realistically is everybody’s business and all hands are needed on deck.
Ten farmers out of the first hundred registered farmers were presented with their cards by Mr. Owolabi Elabanjo/Chief Extension Officer and Minister E P Chet Greene at a small ceremony held at the Agricultural Extension Division. A selection of two farmers from each of the five districts were the first to receive their cards and the others will do so in the upcoming week. The recipients were:
- Northeast District – Mr. Neil Gomes and Magdalene Joseph,
- Southwest District – Ms. Sheir Williams and Mr. Joseph Francis
- Southeast District – Ms. Roslyn Sterling and Twin-I Payne
- Northeast District – Mr. Iton Henry and Mr. Trevorn Hazlewood
- Southcentral District- Ms. Dianne Joseph and Mr. Kenford Jarvis
Simultaneously, while the event was taking place so too was the registration process continued. To date the Extension Division has surpassed its target. “I am happy to announce that after the first five days we had over one hundred and thirty farmers registered and this has been a motivation for others to be a part of this process. We perceive, that by end of month more than four hundred producers would have done the procedure and their information would be collected, and in our database”, declared Mr. Ika Fergus/ Extension Officer.