What we must do for agriculture

THE Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) has focused heavily, over the past three days, on Jamaica's relationship with the Caribbean Community (Caricom), as well as the everyday happenings that go along with farming in this, the largest of the English-speaking islands in the region.

Senator Norman Grant, president of the JAS, has gone on record as objecting to any possibility of Jamaica withdrawing from Caricom as, according to him, Jamaica would suffer greatly if that were to happen.


From a macro perspective, it would make little sense for Jamaica to even entertain the thought of pulling out of Caricom, for even if there are serious trade imbalances, as exists now with Trinidad & Tobago for example, the whole issue of Caribbean unity would be in tatters if Jamaica were to even put the matter of stepping aside to its people.

While Jamaica can stand up and shout from the mountaintop that general trade with Caricom is not all gloom and doom, the specific relationship that Jamaica has with other Caribbean nations, in respect of export of purely agriculture-based items, remains flat.

Nearly all Caribbean countries grow the same crops — bananas, plantains, coconuts, and oranges — with Jamaica, Guyana, Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago still involved in the cultivation of sugar cane.

Caribbean nations produce the various varieties of cash crops and so are able to supply their people with basic domestic needs, save for a country like Antigua & Barbuda for example, which imports 97 per cent of its fruits, vegetables and other crops mainly from the United States.

The question now that a country like Jamaica has to answer is, how can it break through other regional markets with agricultural produce for the Caricom impact to the felt in that sector? It will take some amount of ingenuity for that to happen, and without even placing the matter squarely on the agenda for a roundtable discussion, you can almost hear the howls of dissenting voices already, questioning where the financial resources will come from to fund any large-scale project of its kind.

Caricom aside for now, we hear the same stories year after year, about the problems that farmers face. Again, at the 61st Denbigh Agricultural, Industrial and Food Show, which ended yesterday in Clarendon, farmers were hopping mad about the rapid increase in praedial larceny and the apparent inability of those in authority to do something tangible about it.

Farmers, we are told, lose billions in potential revenue each year as a result of those who prefer to reap rather than sow.

Agriculture Minister Roger Clarke has gone on record as suggesting that the Jamaica Constabulary Force institute a Praedial Larceny Unit to assist with combatting this scourge. What has happened since? Is this going to be just another sweet and juicy talk, or will the constabulary move with alacrity to put things in place?

According to the JAS' Grant, praedial thieves have already landed some farmers in rural Jamaica onto the scrap heap of bankruptcy. Now, we would think that if such a situation was to continue, without being seriously addressed, the number of those on the already long list of the bankrupt would climb to unprecedented levels.

Is this something that we as a nation with a considerably high unemployment rate and spiraling level of poverty want to continue?
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Middletown High School teacher, agriculture program earn awards

MIDDLETOWN >> Middletown High’s agriculture program along with one of its teachers were recently honored.

The program was named 2013 Region VI NAAE Outstanding Middle/Secondary School Agricultural Education Program and Middletown High School teacher Amanda Thomson was named 2013 Region VI NAAE Outstanding Agricultural Education Teacher.

The NAAE, which stands for National Association of Agricultural Educators, gives out state awards and then six regional awards throughout the country. Region VI, Middletown’s region, extends from Maryland to Maine.

“I’m really very honored to have been chosen,” said Thomson. “It’s a highlight of my career.”

Middletown High was selected through a variety of criteria including teaching philosophy, effective classroom and experiential instruction, development of partnerships and professional growth.

First selected as the state winner, Middletown went on to be chosen as the regional winner. As such, Middletown will receive a plaque and an expense paid trip to attend the 2013 NAAE convention.

Middletown’s agriculture program serves students from all over Middlesex County. Its mission is to help students learn about agriculture and lead them to being accepted at two- or four-year college programs or to a career in agriculture following high school.

Selected as the state winner and then the regional winner, Thomson will receive the use of a Toyota Tundra for two years along with an expense paid trip to attend the 2013 NAAE convention in Las Vegas in December and an invitation to an awards dinner.

“In our state, we have a close-knit group of about 120 agricultural teachers,” Thomson explained. “Each year, we nominate peers for certain awards. Then there’s an application process.”

According to the NAAE, the awards are to recognize teachers at the pinnacle of their careers while conducting the highest quality agricultural education programs. Award winners are seen as innovators and catalysts for student success in agricultural education, the NAAE said in a press release. “In the next couple of weeks, we have our mentorship program for incoming students,” Thomson said. “I am currently helping students develop lessons and activities that they will lead to form a connection with incoming students.”
Programs like that are reasons that Middletown High and Thomson were chosen for the awards, the NAAE said.

“The application was to write eight pages highlighting teaching philosophy, background info on program, curriculum, student leadership program, experiential learning, partnership with community and professional development,” Thomson said.

The agriculture program at Middletown High continues to be a success as a numerous amount of students are headed to national competitions in the fall including ones for forestry, poultry and agricultural science research projects, Thomson said. They will be headed to the student national convention for the NAAE in Louisville, Kentucky, in October.

“It’s a tremendous honor,” Thomson said. “I’m sure there will be many more [highlights] to come through my students.

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GG calls for more youth in agriculture

GOVERNOR General Sir Patrick Allen has urged stakeholders in the agricultural sector to unite to make farming more attractive to young people in the country.

Sir Patrick, who was speaking Monday following a tour of the Denbigh Agricultural, Industrial and Food Show in Clarendon, said he was encouraged by what he saw, but insisted that "the survival of our agricultural sector is in the hands of our young farmers".

In the meantime, he encouraged farmers to move with the times. "We cannot do the same thing year after year with the same technology and expect bigger and larger results. Now is the time when we must leave and extend the borders of our imagination and implementation," Sir Patrick said.

"We must move with the times and employ even more cutting-edge technology to increase yields and production in the sector," he said. "If we do not keep up with the times, the times will leave us," warned the governor general.

President of the Jamaica Agricultural Society Norman Grant said he was impressed with produce on display at the event this year, and supported calls for greater partnership to fight praedial larceny, which he said was threatening to cripple the sector.

A number of farmers earlier called for action to be taken against praedial larceny, saying the problem was pushing young people away from the sector.
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Products of agriculture colleges lack jobs

The agricultural colleges churn out 600 graduates every year, but only 10 per cent are absorbed, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) has said.

Mr Benjamin K. Gyasi, Director, Human Resource Development and Management of MOFA who made this known in Accra on Thursday said the situation should be a source of concern to Ghanaians, particularly stakeholders to find solution.

He was speaking at a day’s workshop organised by Agricultural Technical and Vocational Education and Training (ATVET) programme with the support of German Development Co-operation (GIZ) for stakeholders in citrus and pineapple industry.

Mr Gyasi expressed the hope that the ATVET programme and the private sector hold the key to reverse the situation.

The ATVET programme, which aims at promoting technical vocational education and training for the agricultural sector in Africa, is being piloted in Ghana and Kenya.

Mr Ernest Patrick Mallet, ATVET Coordinator said due to inadequate jobs many young people are migrating to the cities to search for jobs.

He said ATVET would link up with other players in the industry to fund its training programmes so that the youth would become interested in agriculture production.

Mr Charles Sackey, Technical Advisor of GIZ encouraged the youth to embrace farming to improve their living standard. GNA

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Tennessee Department of Agriculture says Emerald Ash Borer findings continue to spread

Emerald Ash Borer, an invasive insect that destroys ash trees, has been found in Jackson and Scott counties. The identification was made recently and has been confirmed by USDA.

Both counties will now be placed under quarantine. Earlier this summer, Hamilton County was also placed under quarantine when EAB was found in trees near a rail hub in Chattanooga, TN.
“It appears the newly found infestations of Emerald Ash Borer probably originated through the movement of infested firewood used in camping,” Gray Haun, Tennessee Department of Agriculture’s Plant Certification Administrator said. “Campers need to buy firewood locally where they are camping to avoid introduction of new pests to those areas.”



EAB was first discovered in Tennessee in 2010 at a truck stop along I-40 in Knox County. In addition to Knox, eighteen other counties in Tennessee including Anderson, Blount, Campbell, Claiborne, Cocke, Grainger, Greene, Hamblen, Hamilton, Hancock, Hawkins, Jefferson, Loudon, Monroe, Roane, Sevier, Smith, and Union counties are under state and federal quarantines. Jackson and Scott counties will now be added to this list.

The EAB quarantine prohibits the movement of firewood, ash nursery stock, ash timber and other material that can spread EAB. With the new discovery, citizens can expect expanded surveys and should report any symptomatic ash trees to TDA.

Citizens can help stop the spread of EAB just by following a few simple steps.
Leave firewood at home. Don’t transport firewood, even within the state.
Use firewood from local sources near where you’re going to burn it, or purchase firewood that is certified to be free of pests (it will say so on the label included with the packaging)
If you have moved firewood, burn all of it before leaving your campsite.
Watch for signs of infestation in your ash trees. If you suspect your ash tree could be infested with EAB, visit www.tn.gov/agriculture/eab for a symptoms checklist and report form or call TDA’s Regulatory Services Division at 1.800.628.2631.

For more information about EAB and other destructive forest pests in Tennessee, visit the new website: www.protecttnforests.org. The site is a multi-agency effort to inform and educate Tennesseans on the harmful impacts insects and diseases have on our trees, where the problem spots are, and what landowners can do to help protect their trees.
Other EAB information:

EAB attacks only ash trees. It is believed to have been introduced into the Detroit, MI area approximately 20 years ago on wood packing material from Asia.Since then, the destructive insect has killed millions of ash trees across several states including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.



Typically, the Emerald Ash Borer beetles can kill an ash tree within three years of the initial infestation. Adults are dark green, one-half inch in length and one-eighth inch wide, and fly only from April until September, depending on the climate of the area.

In Tennessee, most EAB adults would fly in May and June. Larvae spend the rest of the year beneath the bark of ash trees. When they emerge as adults, they leave D-shaped holes in the bark about one-eighth inch wide.

The Tennessee Department of Agriculture Division of Forestry estimates that five million urban ash trees in Tennessee are potentially at risk from EAB. The risk represents an estimated value loss of $2 billion. There are an estimated 261 million ash trees on Tennessee public and private timberland potentially valued as high as $9 billion.

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Scientists stay unhelpful to agriculture production

VIAEP – the Vietnam Institute of Agriculture and Post-harvest Technology is a big research organization with its branches spread all over the country, from the north to the south. It comprises of 3 functional management divisions, 6 research subjects and 8 dependent units. Of the 350 workers, 23 have doctor degree, 61 master degree and 139 engineers.

With such a strong staff, the institute consumes over VND10 billion a year on carrying out scientific research projects. The sum of money has been allocated by the state budget.

An institute’s report showed that in the last five years, 2009-2013, of the total 27 research projects, 21 are in the agriculture machinery. In 2013, of the 14 ongoing projects, 10 are in the fields relating to agriculture machinery.

A paradox exists that while the number of projects on agriculture machinery is very big, the number of scientists in the field is modest, just accounting for 1/3 of the personnel.

Explaining this, Dr. Chu Van Thien, Head of VIAEP, said not many scientists want to research mechanical engineering, which is a complicated research field with low profits and high risks. Especially, the number of research works on cultivation machines – the most difficult field – is very modest, just accounting for 1/3 of the total projects.

Of the 10 research works on cultivation machines conducted by VIAEP over the last 5-7 years, only several works have been known, including the MC-6-25 transplanting machine, peanut sowing machine or corn shelling machine.

Of the machines, MC-6-25 can be no longer sold on the market. The sugar cane harvesting machine is still under the experiment, while the corn shelling machine is a “too old initiative.” The other items in the list of research projects have not been available on the market.

Where have the machines “died”?

Nguyen Huu Tuy, a farmer in Ung Hoa district in Hanoi, affirmed that Vietnamese scientists are not bad as people think. They have successfully created a lot of machinery models which are in no way inferior to the Chinese machines available on the market.

However, the machines created by Vietnamese scientists cannot turn into reality because there is no suitable manufacturer.

According to Tuy, the Vietnamese mechanical engineering industry is too bad; therefore, no enterprise can make machines in big quantities from the models provided by the scientists.

“Developing supporting industries and encourage industrial production is another story to talk about,” Tuy said.

Dr. Thien confirmed that the biggest difficulty now is that the scientific research works cannot be applied in reality because of the bad manufacturing technology. VIAEP, for example, successfully created a harvester. However, manufacturing companies could not make complicated parts of the machine. They could make simple parts and accessories, but at the production costs were high and the low durability.

According to Dr Doan Xuan Thin, Deputy Secretary of the Agricultural Mechanics Association, a lot of scientific research projects were not successful because of the “chronic disease.”

In 1990, the harvester created by VIAEP, though having some shortcomings, had a successful test run on dry fields. The scientists needed some more money to improve the machines. However, no more money was allocated to the research work.

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Pork barrel and agriculture

The latest Philippine Human Development Report (2012/2013), launched last Monday, may not have the most eye-opening, or curiosity-inspiring, of titles—“Geography and Human Development”—but its contents belie whatever humdrum expectations may be implied.

The Report cites evidence showing that factors related to geography—climate type, slope, elevation, whether an area is by the sea or is landlocked—“explain” a substantial amount of the variations in the Human Development Index (HDI) between our provinces. How substantial? Would you believe 34 percent for HDI as a whole, and as much as 47 percent for poverty incidence? And if so-called “neighborhood effects” are taken into account, the percentage goes up to 44 percent for HDI and 54 percent for poverty incidence.

By what channels does geography affect these local outcomes—life expectancy, mean years of schooling,

per capita income and poverty incidence—that comprise the provincial HDI? And what are the opportunity costs of not fully taking geography into account?

The answer to the first question, according to the Report, is that the links are through human health, agricultural prospects, access between locations, and specific political institutions. And the answer to the second question is: Significant costs in terms of lost productivity, missed schooling, substandard agricultural yields (up to 150 percent in yield increase foregone), food insecurity, forfeited agglomeration economies (benefits obtained when firms locate near each other), and lost growth.

The Report then explains that these costs arise because of a national organization (read: government) that is arranged as vertical silos (“a system, process, department, etc. that operates in isolation from others”) by agency, and by program, which is “incompatible with the integrated, ecosystem-based governance that local geography demands.” Moreover, the large inefficiencies and foregone benefits also arise from the “well-intended but misguided notion that spreading production evenly across space will lead to growth that is more equitable”—the so-called “divide-by-N syndrome.”

That growth by its nature will be spatially uneven, and that “resisting the forces of unbalanced growth … is tantamount to fighting economic growth itself,” is emphasized by the Report—but it also emphasizes that a geographic convergence of living standards can and must take place, that growth strategies must not be focused on places, but on people.

I focus on two examples in the Report, given the current public focus: the pork barrel and agriculture.

The pork barrel is brought up in connection with the divide-by-N syndrome, which the Report defines as the “mechanical and feckless dissipation of government funds across localities instead of their rational allocation to where these might have the most impact.” The pork barrel, according to the Report, typifies this “fragmentation of public resources across time and space”—and one supposes that the term “feckless” covers the ghost-projects scam.

Apparently, what has been sauce for the goose (the legislators, the president, the vice president) is also sauce for the gander, because per the Report, “the same fragmentation is found at local levels, where pork-barrel-like allocations are drawn from local development funds and given to members of the Sanggunian and municipal mayors, and from mayors to barangays (at least those aligned with mayors). Hence, the many small projects with little or no development significance dotting towns and cities, such as waiting sheds, entrance arches, multipurpose pavements.”

What about agriculture? The Report is particularly critical of the government’s undue focus on rice (P-Noy mentions rice sufficiency in his State of the Nation Addresses, and just yesterday, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala bemoaned the fact that his department’s achievements in this area are overlooked), a focus that is not unique to the current administration. According to the Report, this misdirected focus—on rice self-sufficiency and on production rather than on cost-effective food security and on farm incomes—has crowded out support to other subsectors (e.g., fisheries, coconut) where poverty incidence is much higher.

Citing research findings, the Report concludes that the “single-commodity-production” focus has been costly, has undermined food security, and has been ultimately antipoor.

Has all this attention on rice resulted in the (unfortunately) desired self-sufficiency? The data speak for themselves: Between 2001 and 2010, per the Report, rice support claimed about 47 percent of the budget pie of P52.8 billion (excluding irrigation), but during the same period, self-sufficiency in rice declined by 10 percentage points from 91.29 percent to 81.27 percent.

Well, what about after P-Noy came in? The Report finds that in 2011, there was a sharp percentage point increase in the self-sufficiency ratio. However, again citing research, this was achieved by holding down imports to one-third their level in 2010 and then drawing down on the country’s rice stocks—an unsustainable strategy. And there is the fact that rice smuggling has proliferated (not in the Report), which is not reflected in import figures.

So what is the bottom line? The Report talks about economic integration and integrated delivery of basic and social services, with provinces as the key. Which is great. And we can start by dispensing with the pork barrel and reordering our agricultural priorities. That is, if we want inclusive growth. (Read the Report at www.hdn.org.ph.)
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