Film

Jim Carrey Supporting Rice Production in Haiti

American actor, Jim Carrey, famous for his humor in movies and on television was in Haiti Wednesday for a conference by the System of Rice Intensification (SRI).

Rice production is an area that Carrey feels strongly about as his organization, the Better U Foundation, has contributed to several countries for the aims of producing more and better rice.

"I think that SRI is a very important instrument to help us to increase rice production." We had great success in all countries where it is experienced. I would like for Haiti to become prosperous and self-sustaining. I meet people so nice here and I am also very excited by what I hear, the enthusiasm of the farmers," Carrey said speaking in Monstouis, Haiti - just south of Saint-Marc.

"I hope that there will be a development in this sense, which will enable Haiti to fill the vacuum created by food insecurity," said Carrey as he surveyed SRI projects, just hopping on board his helicopter for the Dominican Republic.

One of the highlights of the symposium was the testimony of the growers who have experienced for the first time the SRI. They were all told that they were ridiculed by classmates planters who did not want to try this new practice that made its way in 42 countries around the world.

"In my opinion, we should not call it the SRI system, for me, it's a miracle!", a rice farmer, very satisfied with the performance of SRI, said. But the farmer did plead for a campaign of awareness and training of growers.

Minister of Agriculture, Joanas Gué, closed the Symposium, thanked the various partners, including the President of the Better U Foundation, Jim Carrey, who honored the conference with his presence.

"The fruitful exchanges conducted around this Conference have enriched the approach so far by the Haitian Government to increase agricultural production, including at the level of the rice sector, which is a strategic agri-food sector for the country, given the level of consumption of rice in Haiti," the minister said.

The Minister of Agriculture, added that agricultural equipment, rehabilitation of irrigation infrastructure and technical advice, have contributed to an improvement of the technical performance of the harvesting of rice in Haiti, "up to pass performance of 2.5 to 3.5 tonnes per hectare in the Artibonite Valley and other rice-growing areas of country where you spent 1.5 tonnes to 4.5 metric tons per hectare per harvest. This performance has reached up to 5 tonnes in some areas."

The officer of USAID, Philipp Palmer economic growth, and the Director of the project WINNER, Jean - Robert estimated, all have two fact part of the need to practice SRI to increase rice production in the country. "SRI begins to locate with great success in areas of intervention of WINNER, the Gonaives, Mirebalais and Thomazeau, and more and more peasants want to apply it to the level of their own plots," said Mr. estimated.

SRI, according to the various stakeholders at the Conference, it is: produce more by planting less.

Source: Le Nouvelliste, Jim Carrey, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.