Agri Ministry launches Kitchen Garden competition
Local gardener, Dr. Victor Allen received a visit today from, Minister within the Ministry of Agriculture Hon Valerie Adam-Yearwood as part of the launch of the ministry’s kitchen garden competition.
According to Minister Adam-Yearwood, the competition will be hosted from December 1, 2019, to February 14, 2020, and will extend to various communities across Guyana. The contests she noted will pave the way for a ‘natural’ competition in the ensuing years.
Minister within the Ministry of Agriculture, Hon. Valerie Adams-Yearwood
“[The competition] is in keeping with the many other firsts the Rural Affairs Secretariat has achieved during its introduction in the ministry. This competition follows on the heels of the Agri-cursion and Agri-ability events, the familiarization tour to GuySuCo and collaboration with the Demarara-Mahaica Health Department to launch the famous Guyana Realigning Agriculture for improved Nutrition and Health,” Hon. Patterson-Yearwood explained.
Dr. Allen, and his wife Rehana Fareed presenting Minister within the Ministry of Agriculture, Valerie Adam-Yearwood with fruit from their kitchen garden
It was highlighted that the competition is expected to stimulate interest in this specific agricultural pursuit as it secures food all-year-round, opens an avenue to earn money, and subsequently, reduces the risk of many threating diseases.
Dr. Victor Allen, a small-scale gardener who began planting over three years ago, showed the visiting team his kitchen garden filled with fresh, healthy and organic fruits and vegetables. Compost, cow mole, sand and chicken litter along with the use of the nenea plant and eggshells as pesticides, instead of chemicals, are Dr. Allen’s recipe for a bountiful garden.
Fruits and vegetables from Dr. Allen’s kitchen garden
His motivation for starting the garden he explained was to encourage others to grow their own food. “Right now, it’s just for consumption. I can’t tell you when last I went to the market.”
For persons interested in participating in the competition registration forms can be uplifted from the Ministry of Agriculture, and all agriculture agencies.
(DPI)
