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The Agric organizers have come up with ideas to improve the Agric fair, which is only 4 weeks away. It'll start on May 3rd, and finish on May 5th. Patrick Jones paid the fairgrounds a visit to see the improvements. They're building new facilities for this year, and are talking about having a main stage, a food court, and alcohol free zones. Great ideas!

"Organizers of the National Agriculture and Trade Show today hosted media representatives to a 'walk through' to explain plans for this year's event. According to the chairman of the show Jose Alpuche, this year the Agric Show on May 3rd, 4th and 5th will see some new and improved format which will include a new main stage, a visitor's centre, brand new rodeo installations and a food court. A part of the plan is the establishment of 'no alchohol' zones, streamlining of the booths and stalls to maximize emphasis on agriculture and trade."

Click here for more photos


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The dates set for this year's Agriculture and Trade Show are May 3 to May 5, 2013. Information regarding events and organizations participating coming soon. For booth reservation please contact Ms. Cardinez/Mrs. Flores at 822-2242 or 822-2243.

http://www.facebook.com/natsbelize

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Agric Fair Showgrounds Will Be Re-Designed

Officials are making preparations for the annual Agricultural and Trade show, scheduled to be held in May 3, 4 and 5.

But members of the public will be pleasantly surprised when they visit the Agricultural Show Grounds because it's getting a facelift. On Saturday, the CEO of the Ministry of Agriculture briefed the media about those upgrades and what they hope to achieve:

Jose Alpuche - CEO, Ministry of Agriculture
"A couple months ago we started looking at the grounds with 2 things in mind, 1 to begin building very - much more durable infrastructure and 2 develop the grounds for use for more than just the one occasion of the of the show. So we are changing the entrance of the ground, we're now putting gin a slip road for safety so that vehicles come off the highway and come into the slip road to drop off and pick up visitors to the grounds, this facility right out here. The building being constructed in the middle of the slip road a new visitor center, ticket booth and security check. BTL is sponsoring the entrance center and ticket booth. The Government od Belize doing the main stage which is this big building going up here, Bowen and Bowen is building a new rodeo gallery for the rodeo arena, one of the main attraction of the show and then the Spanish Lookout community is building a 6 unit food court just in front of the rodeo gallery"

The Ministry of Agriculture is collaborating with Belize Telemedia Limited, Bowen and Bowen, and the Mennonite Community of Spanish Lookout in order to realize these upgrades.

Channel 7


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Preparing for the biggest Agriculture Show ever

The planning Committee of the annual National Agriculture and Trade Show is planning to breathe new life into the annual event. According to the organizers, a number of changes will take place to make the show more interesting and productive to both the private and public sectors. So mark your calendars for the first weekend in May. News Five's Jose Sanchez reports.

Jose Sanchez, Reporting

The National Agriculture and Trade Show will be held on the third, fourth and fifth of May. According to Jose Alpuche, C.E.O. in the Ministry of National Resources and Agriculture, work on upgrading the show-grounds has been constant.

Jose Alpuche

Jose Alpuche, C.E.O. of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Agriculture

"We started looking at the grounds with two things in mind; one to begin building much more durable infrastructure and two, develop the grounds for use of more than just the one occasion of the show. With that in mind, we started doing some planning; there is already in existence a board master plan. We're following a bit to that. We've sought assistance from the private sector and with government to start four projects this year which falls into the general master plan, but also too, after this show, we will spend some time in deeper consultation with the private sector with the uses of the ground to see how best we can finalize development. We've started what is considered to be a five year development plan and in this first year we've been very lucky to have the cooperation, the very willing cooperation of B.T.L., Bowen and Bowen and of the Mennonite community of Spanish Lookout."

Eugene Waight

A road has been constructed on the ground for visitors to drop off passengers and the Chairman of the Trade Show Committee says this year will be the biggest it has ever been.

Eugene Waight, Chairman, National Trade Show and Agricultural Committee

"This is one of the biggest shows in Belize and the biggest agricultural and trade show. And over the years, we have tried to incorporate more and more agricultural and trade activities, encourage more agro industries and farmers participation to the show and expanding it to entities within the sector. This year's show is slated for the third, fourth and fifth of May. What they are displaying to you is in terms of the show in terms of the infrastructural development. Another aspect that we will also see today is different layout of the grounds where we are trying to move all the crowd that is usually in the main street into secondary rows. This not only will move crowds from off that main street, but will also allow for other business, enterprises or people that want to do any other type of activity rather than being on the main street can. So we've expanded that area. We have also included some other infrastructural development work."

The opening ceremony will be held on Friday, May fourth at four pm. It will include a speech from the mayor as well as the announcement of the farmers of the year.

Eugene Waight

"The minister's gallery is a new building that will be a much nicer building. We will also bring in the trained bulls from Guatemala because if you want to have good show, you need to have bulls that are trained. It cannot be wild bulls that can kick and jump. So the rodeo will also have other activities and entertainment allt he way. We have the usual pageant on the main stage."

Reporting for News Five, Jose Sanchez.

There will be a dog show and a livestock show on the final day, Sunday March fifth.

Channel 5


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Preparations Underway for National Agriculture and Trade Show


Deputy PM Gaspar Vega and CEO Jose Alpuche tour showgrounds and work being done at the showgrounds

Preparations are now underway for the yearly National Agriculture and Trade Show NATS, which will be held on May 3rd, 4th and 5th at the Agricultural Show Grounds in Belmopan. As part of the preparations and a five year plan, the Ministry of Agriculture has successfully sought assistance from both the Private Sector and Communities to assist with improving the infrastructure at the Show Grounds.

Input is coming from the Belize Telemedia Limited for the main entrance and ticketing booth of the Show Grounds. According to Rafael Marin, Chief Information System Officer at BTL, some sixty five thousand dollars are being spent on the main entrance in an effort to 'energizing' the agricultural show. The main entrance now has a conveniently placed side road for Show Ground visitors to disembark from buses; in an effort to relieve some traffic from the Hummingbird Highway.

A 22 feet tall multi-purpose center is now also being built at the NATS Grounds, which started about two weeks ago, to serve as the main stage at the Agriculture Show. When the building is completed, Ministry of Agriculture Officials say it is their intention for schools and youth groups in the area to use it at no cost. The pre-fabricated building is being constructed with the help of the Ministry of Works and is financed by the Government of Belize; with the canopy being built by Global Steel Solutions a Company based in Belmopan. (Global Steel Solutions specializes in the building of both small and large pre-fabricated steel structures.)

One of the main attractions at the Agricultural and Trade Show every year is the rodeo show. But the rodeo platform that was on the Show Grounds had been deemed unsafe. As a result, a concrete rodeo gallery is now being built, sponsored this time by Bowen and Bowen. The structure will have a plaza in front, so that spectators can have more visibility of the shows. Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Agriculture, Jose Alpuche, hopes that livestock producers would in the immediate future take the opportunity to have quarterly shows at the improved rodeo facility.

Communities are also doing their part to improve the Agriculture Show Grounds. In the early morning of this past Saturday, the food court designated area of the grounds were clean. But by mid-day a pre-fabricated food court had already taken shape; built by an all volunteer group from the Spanish Lookout Community. Chairman of the Cayo based Community, Norman Reimer, was present while the construction was taking place and he reports that the food court was being built out of some of the funds received from the Belize Natural Energy.

For this year, planners want an incident free and prosperous Agriculture Show with more farmer participation. Sub-divisions have been planned at the Show Grounds that will be alcohol free to make it safer for children and all as they become involved in the planned mechanical rides.

But the main objective of the Agriculture and Trade Show 2013 is to encourage farmers and others who want to learn more about the agriculture sector industries.

"�as the show continues next year, probably we will see more infrastructural development, new zoning areas and maybe more food courts," says Eugene Waight, Chief Agriculture Officer who has participated in the planning of the 2013 Agriculture and Trade Show.

"We will try to encourage more and more farmers to come to the show, because [that] is what the show is all about, promoting agriculture, showcasing farmers, showcasing agriculture, showcasing what the Ministry does," he said.

Thousands of Belizeans from around the country visit Belize's main agricultural event every year at the entrance of the Nation's Capital. For this year, the Ministry of Agriculture is hoping to have put in place the adequate buildings and spaces to handle the expected huge crowds.

The Guardian


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Agric Farmers of the Year

Agric is only 3 weeks away, and they've announced the Farmers of the Year. Congratulations to Mr. George Choj, who has a farm on the Cristo Rey road, for being named Senior Farmer.

"The National Agriculture and Trade Show Committee is pleased to announce the winners of this year Farmers of the Year 2013:

Senior Farmer - Mr. George Choj. Mr. Choj is 30 years old of Cristo Rey Road in the Cayo District. He currently owns 25 acres of land of which 12 acres are developed into crop and livestock. Mr. Choj's farm is diversified and mostly based on the Integrated Farming System Concept. His activities involve both Crop (Periurban) and Livestock production through which he maximizes the by-products of each activity to generate income, reduce cost and improve product quality.

Woman Farmer - Mrs. Sharon Moody. Mrs. Moody is from Scotland Half-moon in the Belize District and is 28 years of age. Mrs. Moody is a dedicated farmer who has been involved in mixed farming activities for the past seventeen years. Her farm consists of a combination of agricultural activities which include crop and livestock production. Her farm produces an assortment livestock for consumption and for the local market also she is involved in the agro processing of diverse products to include goat cheese, jams, jellies, pine apple, cashew, coconut oil and cohune oil for income generation.

Junior Farmer - Mr Nelson Burgos. Mr Burgos is 18 year old from Fresh Water Creek in the Corozal District. Mr. Burgos farms a 15 acre plot which consists of fruit trees, vegetables and small livestock production. He is also engaged in coconut oil production and ground pepper processing.

Theme: Stimulating prosperity in agriculture and food production through renewed public-private partnership."

We are happy to announce that the visitors fees remain the same at $5 for adults, $2 for kids (under ten) and $8 for parking (within the grounds). Friday evening is free!

Link


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Major Upgrade Underway

Minister and CEO Inspect National Agriculture Show Grounds

The National Agriculture and Trade Show, a traditional, annual event, is less than a month away and plans are well underway for it.

This year it's not just the regular, routine preparation, but major physical upgrading of the show grounds on the outskirts of the Nation's Capital, and significant changes in the lineup of activities for the event itself.

After leading a weekend tour of the show grounds by members of the media, CEO Jose Alpuche on Monday accompanied Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture Hon. Gaspar Vega on a thorough inspection of the work in progress.

The following are excerpts from comments by CEO Alpuche and Chief Agriculture Officer Eugene Waight as they led the media tour two days earlier.

Jose Alpuche, C.E.O. in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Agriculture:

"There are a lot of questions being asked about what we're doing at the grounds, so let's quickly do a little walk through; we can explain to you what we're trying to do and, of course, raise some awareness for the show, which has been set for 3rd, 4th and 5th of May.

A couple months ago, we started looking at the grounds with two things in mind; one, to begin building very much more durable infrastructure; and two, develop the grounds for use for more than just the one occasion of the show. With that in mind, we started doing some planning. There's already in existence a broad master plan. We looked at that. We're following a bit to that.

We've started what is consider to be a five-year development plan; and in this first year, we've been very lucky to have the cooperation, the very willing cooperation of B.T.L; of Bowen and Bowen, and of the Mennonite Community of Spanish Lookout.

If you notice, we're changing the entrance of the ground.

We're now putting in a slip road for safety, so that vehicles come off the highway and come into this slip road to drop off and pick up visitors to the grounds; that's this facility right out here. The building being constructed in the middle of the slip road is a new visitor center, ticket booth, security checks. That's a building fully sponsored by BTL. This then leads into what is now becoming a new area that we hope to develop; this entire area here, we hope to develop as a smaller portion of the ground for multi-purpose use; for a proper exhibition ground, this smaller portion here. We'll be putting in new parking and developing the booths.

So BTL is sponsoring the entrance center and ticket booth; Government of Belize is doing the main stage, which is this big building going up here; Bowen and Bowen is building a new rodeo gallery for the rodeo arena, one of the main attractions of the show; and then the Spanish Lookout community is building a six-unit food court just in front of the rodeo gallery." Eugene Waight, Chairman, National Agriculture and Trade Show Committee: "This is one of the biggest shows in Belize and the biggest Agricultural and Trade Show. And over the years, we have tried to incorporate more and more agricultural and trade activities, encourage more agro-industries and farmers' participation to the show, and expanding it to entities within the sector. This year's show is slated for the third, fourth and fifth of May. What they are displaying to you is, in terms of the show, in terms of the infrastructural development. Another aspect that we will also see today is a different layout of the grounds where we are trying to move all the crowd that is usually in the main street into secondary rows. This not only will move crowds from off that main street, but will also allow for other businesses, enterprises or people that want to do any other type of activity rather than being on the main street. So we've expanded that area. We have also included some other infrastructural development work.

The Minister's Gallery is a new building that will be a much nicer building. We will also bring in the trained bulls from Guatemala, because if you want to have a good show, you need to have bulls that are trained. It cannot be wild bulls that can kick and jump. So the rodeo will also have other activities and entertainment all the way. We have the usual pageant on the main stage."

Much more, and lots of pics, in the Capital Weekly HERE


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The major highlights of the show included:
Judging of Crops and Livestock displays
Judging of Commercial and Industrial display booths
Tractor operation contest
Coconut husking contest
Aerial spraying display
Selection of Miss Agriculture
Musical Entertainment by local musicians/groups
Horse riding
Honoring of Farmer of Year
Rodeo
Dog Show
Canoe Race
Motocross Show

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AGRIC Improvements

AGRIC is just over a week away, and they've come a long way with the improvements.

https://www.facebook.com/natsbelize


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