Record number of entries in National School Garden competition

A record number of secondary schools participated in the 2024 National School Gardening Competition with the Sandy Bay Government School securing the win in the primary category, and the Girls’ High School (GHS) taking the top spot in the secondary category.

The GHS also took home the prestigious Saboto Caesar Challenge Trophy.

The competition, hosted by the Rural Transformation Unit (RTU) within the Ministry of Agriculture, came to a close recently with the prize-giving being held on Tuesday, March 18, 2025 at the SVG Girl Guides Association Headquarters.

The 2024 round of the competition saw, for the first time, the use of digital technology in the marketing and promotion of the schools’ gardens with over 1,000 students participating in the maintenance of the gardens.

Deputy Chief Agricultural Officer, Colville King in his opening remarks pointed out that programmes such as these create a “cadre of future food producers in the agriculture sector of St Vincent and the Grenadines.”

Gardens were judged across five categories: use of technology; sustainability; management of livestock; management of crop; and for the first time, students were assessed on their record-keeping.

Senior Technical Officer in the Rural Transformation Unit, Currel Thompson-Fergus explained that record-keeping was included as it is a critical part of production which is often times overlooked.

“We see people planting, but they cannot track their chemical input or their output so we thought that it was important that we start with the students. Points were also awarded for students’ participation and knowledge of their garden,” she said, adding that they extended the judging period until March 4, 2025, as some schools were challenged by heavy rains.

Thompson-Fergus made a call for the competitions such as these that promote agriculture interests to be included as part of the curricula of schools as it helps to build skills beyond the classroom.

“Schools participation in the competition is growing, and I want to commend the dedication of the teachers and principals for their commitment to fostering the love for agriculture, and to expose the students to the field even though in some of the schools, agriculture is not taught as part of the formal curriculum.”

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Cuthbert Knights commended the 20 participating schools for leading what he described as one of the hallmark activities of the Rural Transformation Unit.

He issued this challenge to students and teachers, “I want you to see how many schools you can bring on board and the school or person that is able to bring an additional school into the competition, we will give you a prize”.

Participating schools were also awarded tools, soil, seedlings and maintenance supplies.