By K.C. Soares, ContributorAFTER A five-year break I decided to once again visit the annual Denbigh Agricultural Show in Clarendon. So on Saturday August 2, I took a leisurely drive to Denbigh anticipating an improved show as my recollections of the past few shows I attended were nothing to write home about.
On reaching Denbigh, however, my spirits fell somewhat as the age-old problem of poor arrangements for parking was still evident. At the first gate that I approached I told the attendants that I had a pass and would like to enter. They told me that I could enter only at gate 4. I asked for the location of gate 4 and was told that it was somewhere down the road.
I proceeded down the main road and saw a group of policemen apparently directing traffic. I asked to be directed to gate 4 and they all started stating their disapproval of arrangements saying that every year they have the same problem as nobody knows what is what.
I eventually found gate 4, but had it been another year, I would have spun around and headed back to Kingston. Why can't there be proper arrangements at this show? A few simple signs and trained personnel at the entrances would surely go a long way in encouraging attendance.
The first exhibition I saw made me a bit sceptical of what was to come. This was at the cattle area of the grounds. There were not many quality animals present. What I did see in two stalls were two under-nourished cows and two calves that were badly in need of de-worming.
I tried to get some information from some gentlemen who appeared to be cattle handlers but they denied having anything to do with the animals. I came up with two theories.
One was that they were exhibits to show what it looks like when animals are not properly nourished and what calves look like when they are infested with worms.
The other was that these animals strayed onto the compound from the streets of May Pen, as it is not uncommon for animals to roam the streets of our cities and towns.
However, it was not all bad in the livestock section of the show as the goats presented were in immaculate condition.
Overall, the best exhibition, in my opinion, was by the parish of St. Thomas. While the other parishes stuck to traditional presentations, St. Thomas showed the way to the new thinking in agriculture. This parish highlighted the extraction of essential oils. This in my view is, one of the critical areas of our agriculture that we should be pursuing.
I have in many articles expounded the reasons why we should concentrate on the production of these oils. To back this up the St. Thomas booth displayed an array of exotic wines (soursop, otaheite apple, citrus, banana, etc.). We have to move away from traditional crops, as we cannot compete globally with these crops.
The future is in the production of essential oils particularly from plants that are indigenous to the island. There are almost 120 plants in the world that produce essential oils and 86 of these plants are to be found naturally in Jamaica. Why aren't we focusing our attention in this direction? It is somewhat ironic that St. Thomas should be leading the way when this parish is not considered as one of the leading parishes of the island from an economic standpoint.
I met three promising small businessmen who had done remarkably well with the limited resources available to them. They were involved in bee-keeping and agro-processing. These are individuals who appear to have the right attitude towards work and more importantly the will to succeed.
All they are in need of is some financial assistance to improve on the quantity and quality of their products. The Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS), the organisers of the show, should set up a financial growth fund to assist small business operators of the type mentioned above.
These are people who can make a meaningful contribution to the Jamaica economy, as the products, if properly developed, can be competitive in global markets. The money to be used in the recently announced revitalisation of cocoa, in my opinion, will be better spent assisting the three entrepreneurs mentioned above and the many others in similar position to improve their production facilities and having their operations ISO and HACCP compliant.
All factors considered, the show itself was a vast improvement over what I saw in 1997 and I for one hope that it continues to show improvement.
K. C. Soares is a former banker and is now a business consultant with Soledad Financial Services Limited. E-mail: soledad@netcomm-jm.com
