CHAUNCEY Ogle Friday last copped the Principle’s Award at the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA) 45th annual graduation exercise.

Ogle, who obtained a distinction in the Diploma in Animal Health and Veterinary Public Health, and her colleagues were bestowed special honours at a well-attended ceremony convened at the school’s Plant Science Building in Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara

The graduates

The graduates, during their tenure at the institution, pursued diploma and certificate programmes in agriculture, animal health and veterinary public health, fisheries studies, and forestry.

Notably, the first batch of 10 students from the GSA Essequibo Branch graduated at the Mon Repos facility in the Certificate in Forestry programme.

While none of the Essequbians gained distinctions, Mark Austin, Yesu Deonarine, and Shiva Manbahadur secured higher credits.

Puran Deorajnarine and Mark Lalbahadur achieved distinctions in the Diploma in Agriculture discipline, and joined their colleagues Sanabia Duncan, Linsford Lagoudou and Edwin Moore who attained distinctions in the Certificate in Forestry programme.

Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Country Representative, Dr. Lystra Fletcher-Paul, advised the graduates that their attitude and aptitude will determine their success.

She lauded the students for pursuing studies in agriculture as many persons today still view the discipline as “tough” and “untidy”.

On the contrary, Fletcher-Paul pointed out, agriculture is a multi-faceted area, critical to human survival and, given the current demand for food, is an avenue for economic prosperity.

The FAO Representative underlined the importance of countries being self-sufficient in food and reminded the graduates that in light of the global food situation, their decision to pursue a career in agriculture is both timely and relevant.

She urged the graduates to promote local agriculture produce on Face Book and be strong advocates of environmental conservation.

He encouraged the graduating class to love their work, and unlike people who wonder and watch things happen, they should make things happen.

Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud said the peoples who came here did so because of agriculture and generations since have nurtured and built the sector.

He said the Government is committed to building a modern agriculture sector that is tops in the region; but the achievements made to far are not enough, and much more needs to be done.

The Government has put forward a framework to move the sector forward, and last year received funding for the Agriculture Diversification Project (ADP) and the Rural Enterprise Agriculture Development (READ) programme.

These initiatives aim at developing the non-traditional agriculture sector, making Guyana less dependent on rice and sugar for export revenues.

Guyana, Persaud said, is the only food- secure country in the region and continues to look at satisfying the food needs of its sister CARICOM states.

He underlined too that the development of the sector to the desired level will depend on the role played by the graduates who will be the prime drivers of the country’s agriculture development in the years ahead.

GSA outgoing Principal Ms Lynette Cunha and Chairman Mr. Rudolph Gajraj also spoke at the graduation.