Hugh Martin
THE JAMAICAN Society for Agricultural Sciences (JSAS) frequently recognises its members and others who have given long and distinguished service to agriculture and to country. It does this in two ways. One is through its Dr. T. P. Lecky Lecture series and the second through its Memoirs series.
The T. P. Lecky lecture is designed for a scientist working in the field of animal genetics while the Memoirs Series requires the individual being recognised to share with its members and guests at a specially arranged function some of the highlights of his career.
Mr. A. C. McDonald, the immediate past chairman of the All Island Jamaica Cane Farmers' Association, was perhaps the most obvious choice for the 2006 Memoirs Series, if for no other reason than that he has earned the right.
A former director of research in the Ministry of Agriculture, he was responsible for guiding the development of improved technologies and methodologies and of new crop cultivars that have enabled farmers to increase their production and therefore their income.
OUTSTANDING
But before all that he had made his name as an outstanding agricultural extensionist delivering valuable information and training to farmers in the field throughout the length and breadth of the country.
He was able to do this as a young man fresh out of the Jamaica School of Agriculture first with the Jamaica Agricultural Society as a branch organiser and later (in 1951) with the Ministry of Agriculture as an extension officer. When he retired from the Ministry in the 1990s he had also served as director of training, deputy executive director of RADA and Dean of the College of Agriculture.
The foregoing was not the entirety of his contribution to the country's development. In fact his work with cassava while at the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA) is in itself a career-defining legacy. And he would not be coy about his stint as Adviser to Prime Minister Michael Manley in the 1970s.
But when he spoke at the JSAS function it was not just a listing of his achievements or even just a sharing of his experiences. He shed some light on the reasons for certain developments in the agricultural sector and posed challenges to the younger scientists who now had the responsibility of advancing the scientific and technological development of the country. One of those responsibilities, he suggested, was in the presentation of sound advice to the political directorate to assist in policy formulation as there could be no advancement without well directed policies.
One of his big regrets was his failure to convince a minister of agriculture that it would be more feasible to produce wheat in Jamaica than rice as the conditions were much more favourable. He provided the necessary empirical evidence which included impressive production results only to be told that the policy of the Government was to import all its staples.
SUCCESSFUL CANE FARMER
Another of his disappointments was the refusal of the government a couple of years ago when he was chairman of ALLCANE to support the association's effort to establish the most modern sugar factory in the Caribbean region. A successful cane farmer of many years A.C. is unapologetic about his belief in the viability of the sugar industry even with the impending price cuts. He believes that the current high crime rate is due in large measure to the closure of some ten sugar factories over the past 20 years and predicts a greater increase if more factories are closed.
Who is going to contradict him when he is known to have that annoying habit of being right? Like the time in primary school when he alone would say that a pound of feather has a greater weight than a pound of lead. The explanation was simple. Feather is weighed by the avoirdupois system which is 16 ounces to the pound while lead is measured by the Troy system which is 12 ounces to the pound.
Mr. A. C. McDonald, nicknamed Gentleman (to which he has done justice) is a giant of a man and is - by whatever measure used - heavy.
Hugh Martin is a communication consultant and farm broadcaster who may be reached at
humar@cwjamaica.com.
