Youth farmers showcase poultry, livestock skills

Eighteen young farmers showcased poultry and livestock production skills on Wednesday after completing an eight-week IICA Youth Farm training programme at the Alleyne School.

An open day marked the culmination of the intensive programme, with eight participants completing the poultry production course and another ten receiving training in livestock production.

Poultry production instructor Ryan Barrow said participants gained practical experience while working towards a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) in General Poultry Production Level Two.

Barrow said the poultry participants raised more than 100 broilers and were also exposed to layer production, including collecting eggs.

Participants also received exposure outside the classroom through visits to Gale’s Hatcheries and a farm in St Lucy.

The programme, led by IICA, was conducted in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, the TVET Council Barbados and Gale’s Hatcheries, with other agricultural businesses also supporting the initiative since it began in 2012.

Barrow encouraged young people to consider agriculture as a career, noting its importance to food production.

“Agriculture is a very, very viable career choice. There are many different areas in agriculture that students can get into and plus it’s… all about food, as I always tell my students: ‘No farm, no food.'”

For participant T’shay Als, the programme provided an opportunity to build on an existing interest in agriculture.

From left: Poultry production participants T’shay Als and Elisha Lashley (Photo credit: Lauryn Escamilla / Barbados TODAY)

“We learned a lot about this course. We learned properly how to take care of chicks, also how to … start a business in a way, and also… different aspects and different types of chicks.”

The St George student, who already studies agriculture at school and previously raised 100 broiler chickens, said he “would love to continue, ’cause that’s honestly what I wanna do in life.”

Als encouraged other young people to participate: “You get to do fun activities, you know. You’ll meet good people, you know. You’ll also learn a lot, especially if you want to do it as a career,” she said.

Fellow participant Elisha Lashley said: “What I learned is that biosecurity is very important, and I also learned that agriculture, that poultry production in Barbados, is very important.”

The programme also expanded the St Leonard’s Boys’ School student’s knowledge and experience in poultry rearing.

“I’ve been trying to get more layers ’cause I’m more experienced with layers instead of broilers, ’cause this is my first time using broilers, and that’s another good thing about this programme because you can learn a lot of new things.”

Livestock instructor Jelani Hunte said the ten participants in his cohort received both classroom instruction and practical training in the field during the eight-week programme.

Livestock production instructor Jelani Hunte (Photo credit: Lauryn Escamilla / Barbados TODAY)

The practical sessions included castration, teeth and tailing in piglets, hoof trimming, simulated deworming and ear tagging.

The programme also focused on entrepreneurship, with all livestock participants already operating an agribusiness, Hunte said.

He recalled one participant telling him after the programme that he was considering farming more seriously and asking how he could acquire land, become a registered farmer and obtain quality livestock.
“I would say that the guys are enthusiastic and I can see a bright future in farming for the guys,” Hunte said. (LE)