Agri. Ministry hosts inaugural ‘Agri-cursion’ in observance of International Day of Older Persons

As the Agriculture Month 2019 gets underway, the Ministry of Agriculture today hosted its inaugural “Agri-cursion”; an agriculture field school in observance of International Day for Older Persons.

The event, which took place at the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA)’s Mon Repos campus, saw groups of older persons from Regions Five, Six and Ten benefiting from a number of agriculture related demonstrations and presentations in areas such as shadehouse practices, drip irrigation, agro-processing, container gardening and composting. The group was also given a tour of the school’s livestock farm where they were able to see a number of top breeds of cattle, poultry and small ruminant animals.

Minister within the Ministry of Agriculture with responsibility for Rural Affairs, Valerie Adams-Yearwood, while addressing the gathering, said that she has always observed International Day of Older Persons.

“For the past eleven years, I have been organizing activities in observance of International Day of Older Persons. Now that I am at the Ministry of Agriculture and this is Agriculture Month, I decided to celebrate the day in a different way. I know that older persons have a place and a part to play in agriculture so bringing you here to teach you some simple but effective farming techniques was a no brainer. Also, if you want to know anything about agriculture, GSA is the place to come,” Minister Adams-Yearwood said.

Resolution 45/106, passed by the United Nations General Assembly on December 14th 1990, declared October 1st to be the International Day of Older Persons.

The theme for the 2019 celebration is “The Journey to Age Equality”.

Further, Minister Adams-Yearwood also encouraged the gathering to get involved in kitchen gardening.

“I will be having a kitchen gardening competition during Agriculture Month. I believe such practices will have a positive effect on persons’ health and economic status since by planting your own fruits and vegetables, you would limit the use of chemicals and spend less money at the market,” Minister Adams-Yearwood said.

The day’s event also saw persons receiving seedlings to assist with their farming activities at home.

Agriculture Month 2019 continues with other events such as National Tree Day, World Food Day Exhibition and Fair, Agriculture Agencies’ open days, a health fair and an inter-agency cook off competition.