THE Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the Inter-American Institute for Co-operation on Agriculture (IICA) on Thursday inaugurated the sixth annual Secondary Schools’ Hydroponics Competition at Leonora Secondary School, West Coast Demerara.
Assistant Chief Education Officer Doodmattie Singh, who chaired the programme, said 45 schools from Regions 2 (Pomeroon/Supenaam),6 (East Berbice/Corentyne) and 10 (Upper Demerara/Upper Berbice) will be participating this year and the official launch was by First Lady Deolatchmee Ramotar.
Mrs. Ramotar said she believes that this initiative is necessary in creating awareness of agriculture and agricultural economics, noting that it is becoming an important area of study for food securty, not only in Guyana but in other places worldwide.
“Initiatives like this will, thus, provide our young people with hands-on experience. Moreover, competitions like this will expose our farmers to innovative and new agricultural techniques which would allow them to build agricultural practices that are more efficient and effective,” she said.
Her Excellency also noted that hydroponics is not a new method of agriculture but has been around for a long time. Nevertheless, she believes that it has special relevance to Guyana, given this country’s vulnerabilities to flooding and extreme heat.
Alternative
She said hydroponics is an alternative means of cultivation that needs to be utilised more by local farmers and people who tend kitchen gardens since its benefits are great, one such being that the process aids in saving water.
“Despite the abundance of water in Guyana, there is a cost to its distribution and accessibility. We need to avoid wastage and encourage conservation of our water resources. Hydroponics, by ensuring the more efficient usage of water, achieves this goal,” the First Lady observed.
Mrs. Ramotar observed that, given the practical benefits, any attempt at encouraging hydroponics in agriculture is to be commended and she used the forum to congratulate IICA for its role in promoting the practice and sponsoring the secondary schools’ competition.
She continued:“I want to encourage our schools to take part in this competition because it is not just about agriculture but also about expressing the creativity of our young people. I am confident that this year’s competition will see some very interesting submissions from our schools which can be applied nationally.”
Also present on the occasion was research scientist, Soil & Water Management Department, National Agricultural Research & Extension Institute (NAREI), Mr. David Fredericks.
He pointed out that NAREI has been involved in judging the rivalry and, according to him, the agency views hydroponics not only as a way to provide sustainable agriculture but also to adapt to climate change.
Utilised
In addition to conserving water and preventing floods, fertilisers are also more fully utilised in hydroponics, he informed.
Country Representative of the United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Dr. Lystra Fletcher-Paul expressed delight at being involved in promoting hydroponic production in Guyana.
She also expressed gratitude to the First Lady for being the patron of the 2012 competition and remarked that the launching of it is only one component of a bigger project entitled ‘Expansion of hydroponics activities in Guyana’ which FAO is funding in collaboration with IICA.
Fletcher-Paul revealed that the project budget is approximately $2.2M of which FAO is contributing $1.5M. It will be implemented in three phases.
Firstly, there will be training workshops for agricultural science teachers and students, extension officers of the Ministry of Agriculture and members of the Blue Flame Women’s Group.
The second phase is the establishment of five hydroponic units and the final phase will be transplanting the seedlings of selected crops into the growing medium, under the supervision of IICA.
The start of the competition is a part of phase two of the project and the five hydroponic units which FAO will be financing, will be established in two practical institutions in Georgetown, one on the East Coast of Demerara, one at St. Ignatius School in Lethem, Rupununi and another on the premises of the Blue Flame Women’s Agro-processing Group in Mabaruma, North West District.
Hopeful
Fletcher-Paul said they are hopeful that, at the end of this project, there would be an increase in the number of teachers, students, extension officers and agro-processors trained in hydroponic technology. It is also hoped that there will be more students completing their practical requirements in hydroponics for the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) syllabus.
She said that the FAO is also proud to be contributing to the achievement of two of Guyana’s objectives for its Poverty Reduction Strategy, which are to facilitate sustainable and stable production systems among vulnerable groups to increase availability of and accessibility to food and to promote systems of use and consumption of healthy foods for increased nutrition in Guyana, especially among vulnerable groups.
“It is a powerful tool from which you can learn some very important lessons. Firstly, it exposes you to new climate smart technology which would provide you and your school with healthy food to add to your diet. Secondly, it’s a viable means of income generation which does not require back-breaking work which you usually associate with farming and agriculture. Thirdly, it allows you to see the practical application of the theory which you will learn in text books and will, therefore, reinforce the knowledge that you will receive from your teachers,” she lectured the audience.
Representing the IICA in Guyana was Sustainable Rural Development Specialist, Mr. Arnold De Mendonca, who said, through the Hydroponics Competition, the Agriculture Ministry in Guyana has adopted hydroponics technology as an integral component of the Agricultural and Environmental Science syllabi and it also forms a part of the School Based Assessment for CSEC.
He commended the Ministry of Education for partnering with IICA to launch the competition, stating:“This technology offers a pivotal link to agricultural diversification, disaster mitigation and food security,”
This year’s competition will be divided into two phases – training for teachers and students and the actual preparation and planting of the various schools’ hydroponic gardens. The schools will be evaluated by a team of agriculturists over a six-week period.
Source: https://guyanachronicle.com/2012/09/08/at-schools-competition-launch-iica-fao-announce-financial-aid-for-hydroponics-promotion