Lennon High reaps profits from farm
Published:Saturday | February 25, 2012 | 12:00 AM
Horace Fisher, Gleaner Writer
MOCHO, Clarendon:
LENNON HIGH School is well known as a powerhouse in schoolgirl football, but is maybe less recognised as a major producer of meats and vegetables, which are produced on its modern farm in the cool hills of the Mocho Mountains in Clarendon.
According to agriculture teachers Keith Walker and André Lyttle, the agriculture unit produces meat - pork and chicken; vegetables -
"The entire 1,200 pounds of chicken meat and all the vegetables that are consumed here at Lennon every week are grown right here on the farm at Lennon," Lyttle told The Gleaner recently.
Little and Walker, however, complained about the severe shortage of water at the school. "We could be doing far better in terms of production, but because of the shortage of water, we have to be cutting back on production," Walker told The Gleaner.
Challenges
The school was offered a biodigester plant by the Scientific Research Council but was forced to decline the offer.
"We would have to increase the number of pigs in our piggery unit to produce enough faeces to run the proposed biodigester plant," Walker explained.
The acute shortage of water at Lennon hasn't only shelved the school's ambition for a biodigester plant, but also a planned greenhouse training programme for community farmers.
Walker explained to The Gleaner that Lennon's Agriculture De-partment utilises up to 4,000 gallons of water, or almost two truck loads of the precious liquid, each week at $14,000 per truck load.
"It's a small farm, but we are quite efficient in the way we utilise the space that we have. We have over 5,000 broiler birds at any given time, plus layer hens, pigs, and crops here. And the large school population uses a lot of water, too, and there isn't any running water here in Mocho to supply the school," said Walker.
He added: "So, therefore, we have to put a number of initiatives on the back burner for now."
Walker further explained to The Gleaner that the products from the farm are sold to the school, while the surplus is sold to staff members and residents. The revenue that is generated from produce sales is then pumped back into the operation.
According to Lyttle, the agriculture unit at Lennon employs four people to assist in running the farm, but students take on a large chunk of the work as part of their school practical. The students are also certified by HEART Trust/NTA.
Lyttle also said that the farm is making a substantial profit.
"Yeah, man! We are a profitable enterprise. If we weren't profitable, we wouldn't be able to expand, or maybe we would have to close down a long time ago."