Photo: Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries Minister, Audley Shaw (right), converses with Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Jamaica Broilers Group, Christopher Levy, at the launch of the 66th staging of the Denbigh Agricultural, Industrial and Food Show, at the Hi-Pro Supercentre in White Marl, St Catherine on Friday.
This year’s staging of the Denbigh Agricultural, Industrial and Food Show, scheduled to run from August 4-6, will include several new features to enhance the spectacle of the event, while promoting the country’s agricultural sector.
The event, under the theme: ‘Grow What We eat, Eat What We Grow: Agriculture Securing Our Future,’ will include a craft village; a back-to-school fair; and the transformation of the President’s Pavilion into a “living embodiment” highlighting the country’s agricultural history, growth of the sector, and future potential.
An investment in agriculture forum will be staged with support from entities such as the Jamaica Promotions Corporation, the Jamaica Business Development Corporation, the National Export-Import Bank of Jamaica, and the Agro-Investment Corporation Limited.
“It is going to be a tremendous show this year,” said president of the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) Norman Grant.
“These features are really just to showcase Denbigh as the platform for strategic and economic growth,” he noted.
Grant was speaking at the launch of the 66th staging of Denbigh at the Hi-Pro Supercentre in White Marl, St Catherine, on Friday.
Grant said that a scholarship award would be added to the National Farm Queen Competition, and ahead of the show, on July 8, a Denbigh farmers’ 5k run would take place at the showground in May Pen, Clarendon, with the proceeds to go towards establishing a disaster relief fund for farmers.
AGRICULTURE IS FUNDAMENTAL TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF JAMAICA
In addition to the new elements, patrons will be able to enjoy the traditional features such as the health and wellness village, horticultural displays, a farmer’s market, am organic village, food court, and a youth in agriculture village, to name a few.
Grant, who indicated that this would be his final year as JAS president, emphasised the importance of investing in agriculture, which will contribute to the sustained growth of the Jamaican economy.
“Agriculture, in our view, is fundamental to the development of Jamaica. We see agriculture as the bedrock and pillar on which economic growth will take place,” he said.
