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| Minister of Agriculture in the Nevis Island Administration Hon Robelto Hector. |
CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (October 12,. 2006) -- Minister of Agriculture in the Nevis Island Administration the Honourable Robelto Hector gave assurances, that the involvement of youth and the media in agriculture would receive top attention on Nevis, since both played a major role in the sustainability of agriculture and poverty alleviation.
Mr. Hector made the comment during an interview with the Government Information Service at his office in Charlestown on Thursday, on his return from the 6th Caribbean Week of Agricultural and Marine Resources held in the Bahamas from October 2-6, 2006.
The theme of the workshop was "Promoting Sustainable Development of Agricultural and Marine Resources" and was attended by Ministers of Agriculture and research institutions, to discuss the way forward for agriculture in the Caribbean.
According to Mr Hector, among the topics discussed at the workshop were issues impacting on the establishment of new agriculture in the Caribbean; sustainability in agriculture; agro tourism and the linkages; alternative sources of energy including agro energy and great emphasis was placed on the role of the media in agriculture and the involvement of youth in the future of agriculture in the Caribbean.
"I am clear in my mind that whatever we do in agriculture we have to make sure we involve the media, so that we can have that spin off effect in terms of enlightenment and education for the members of the public
~~Adz:Right~~"I am saying to you that we [NIA] are committed to make that stimulation at the primary school level and at the high school level and like I said, with the new thrust of involving the media, we can remove that stigma that is so often with agriculture. Agriculture into the future is a business. We have to now look to move beyond the farm gate. We have agro processing and we have cooperatives here, so there are opportunities," he said.
Notwithstanding, Mr Hector noted that he had also given an undertaken to lend support to a Caribbean Youth Forum which Nevis is a member of.
"I have given a commitment at that meeting and I have given a commitment here, to work closely with this youth group who we are all assured would be the future agriculture workers of the region.
"I am here today with an agriculture background and I feel confident, that there is a great level of success in terms of the contribution that I can make. We [NIA] have to focus and encourage persons to dirty their hands in the cleanness of the soil. Trinidad boasts of about 14 millionaires in agriculture and we can go throughout the region. Most Ministers of Agriculture I found at this workshop and throughout the region are persons who have demonstrated agriculture as a business. Here in Nevis we are no different, once we involve the primary schools and we make that awareness it would augur well for the future," he said.
~~Adz:Left~~The Agriculture Minister also made reference to the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) programme ongoing at the island's secondary schools. He described it as being one of enlightenment in the field of agriculture which helped one realise that Agriculture was a complete science, in that, the discipline was varied.
Mr Hector said since his return to Nevis, he had held discussions with both the Director of Agriculture and the Director of Finance for the inclusion of an allocation in the Ministry of Agriculture's budget to assist the secondary schools and the primary schools in terms of agricultural development.
