Harris bats for aquaponics over greenhouse technology

WESTERN BUREAU:

Glendon Harris, president of the St James branch of the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS), says that while greenhouse technology is important in the scheme of things, it is not the best option to improve the production of agricultural yields in Jamaica.

Harris, a farmer with decades of experience under his belt, said that most greenhouses only last for about five years in our tropical climate.

“We know that people are pumping for greenhouse production, [but] greenhouse technology is not for tropical countries,” said Harris.

“What we have to do now is to introduce modern technology into farming and we need not adopt anything from anywhere else.”

Greenhouses are becoming increasingly popular among farmers globally, and crops grown under these conditions are in high demand.

Jamaican cultivators have embraced the technology, which they say helps to reduce losses from adverse weather conditions.

A former president of the JAS, Harris said that high-altitude farms in Manchester and St James argued that greenhouses 200 metres long and beyond would have to have one side fitted with a humidifier and air conditioner to keep out the heat in tropical countries, while in cold temperature countries, they would need to keep in the heat.

“In the greenhouse here, we need to keep out the heat, so that is where we find the problem that it doesn’t work in Jamaica,” said Harris, who acknowledged that in higher altitude areas like in Manchester and in the upper St James communities, farmers might be able to get up to four years out of a greenhouse.

“This technology is very expensive to go into that type of farming, and you can’t invest in a greenhouse and that is the lifespan of it,” stated Harris.

MORE CAN BE DONE

According to Harris, local farmers could produce more, utilising modern farming technologies such as aquaponics, instead of the greenhouse technique. Aquaponics refers to a food production system that couples aquaculture with hydroponics whereby the nutrient-rich aquaculture water is fed to hydroponically grown plants, which entails nitrifying bacteria converting ammonia into nitrates.

“We can do more in aquaponics and that kind of farming,” argued Harris, in bemoaning the challenges that he and other farmers now face with seeking to rely on irrigation, given the rapid pace of climate change globally.

“Irrigation is another thing that, with climate change, you can’t rely on the rainfall because sometimes you get it heavy and at other times nothing. In times gone, there used to be a lot of rainfall in the month of May, but that’s not the case today. We have to, therefore, invest in modern technology in farming and go into aquaponics. We have to go that way if we want to attract the young people into farming,” said Harris.

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