The competition provides a creative way to renew the interest of student in the agricultural sciences.

Hydroponics has taken off as a popular method of alternative of production among community and women’s groups and schools in Guyana. Now for the third year, the Secondary Schools’ Hydroponics Competition is being hosted by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Education.

The official launch is scheduled for Monday, June 28, 2010 at 09:00 hrs at the Hector Muñoz Agricultural Training Centre, St. Stanislaus Association Farm, Sophia. The Honourable Shaik Baksh, Minister of Education, is expected to formally launch the event. The opening ceremony will be followed by a training workshop for 41 teachers in preparedness for the start of the competition in the first week of September, 2010.

This year, a record 41 secondary schools will participate in the competition across the coastal communities of Guyana, a marked increase from the 27 schools that participated when the competition was last held in 2008.

In previous years, the hydroponics competition was keenly contested, generated tremendous excitement and enthusiasm and drew much hidden talent out of the students. The winner of last year’s competition was the Linden Foundation Secondary School.

The demand for continuation of the competition has shown that in addition to teaching hydroponics as an alternative method of production, it has been a creative way to stimulate and renew the interest of the students in the sciences, particularly agricultural science.

Hydroponics is often defined as “the cultivation of plants in water”. Research has determined that many different aggregates or media (Sand, stones, paddy hulls, charcoal, bricks, saw dust, etc.) will support plant growth: Therefore, the definition of hydroponics has been broadened to read: “The cultivation of plants without using soil”.

Ever since the late Dr. Hector Muñoz, IICA Emeritus Professional, introduced the technology to St. Stanislaus Farm in 2005, this method of production has been taken across the country to community groups, particularly women’s groups and schools. The Ministry of Education, Ministry of Agriculture, the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI), St. Stanislaus Farm, the Partners of the Americas and Caribbean and African Self Reliance International (CASRI) have all partnered in this process.

For more information, contact
ignatius.jean@iica.int