Thousands of visitors, including hundreds of eager schoolchildren, poured into Queen’s Park on Friday for the opening of Agrofest 2026, where a mix of livestock, produce, craft and regional collaboration toasted the agriculture’s place in the island’s future.
In previous years, the school mid-term break dampened student turnout. That was not the case this year as scores of students of all ages moved in clusters across the grounds, filling exhibition tents and huddling around livestock pens with questions and excitement.
The theme of the three-day showcase, which runs until Sunday, is Innovation Driving Profitable, Sustainable Agriculture.
Animals drew some of the largest crowds. There were pigs, goats, sheep, cows and chickens. Nearby, exhibitors displayed herbs, dwarf fruit trees and short-week crops alongside tables stacked with fresh local vegetables.
Regional participation remained visible, with booths from Venezuela, Guyana and Saint Lucia highlighting agro-processing, export products and collaborative efforts to reduce the Caribbean’s food import bill. Artisans added another layer to the experience, showcasing handmade soaps, jewellery, paintings and craft that blended agriculture with creative enterprise.
Produce took centre stage at the Barbados Agricultural Society’s Agrofest cook-off competition, where students transformed home-grown ingredients into inventive dishes before a panel of judges.
As the cook-off returned for a second year, Dr Sonia St Hill said that BAS Chief Executive Officer James Paul had worked hard to ensure as many schools as possible took part, with eight represented on the day.
Organisers remained keen to promote the use of ground provisions in creative ways to encourage young people to embrace them, linking the initiative to wider public health concerns, she added.
“We have a number of non-communicable diseases present in our economy and we really want our children to be able to use the local food and enjoy it,” St Hill said.
“We saw them using breadfruit in a different way. We saw them using the sweet potato as well and the students were happy doing it. I think that is important as well.”
For St Hill, the exercise extended beyond culinary flair.
“It’s not only about transforming local food, but embracing the fact that education is not limited to the classics and so on. We are now into embracing our own in terms of helping children to use what we have to bring up the skills in our children to make them enjoy school more,” she said. “Local comes first.”
Students from George Lamming Primary School were spotted feeding animals before making their way to the exhibition tents. Six-year-old Prince Cheltenham-Sealy summed up his day with unfiltered excitement.
“I learn about sheep, cows and pigs and rabbits, and I would actually like to go and ride one of those cows because they are bigger than me and I feel I would be able to ride one,” he said.
Pupils from Blackman and Gollop Primary School described the event as both fun and educational, citing interactions with livestock, sampling local produce and touring booths to learn about crop production and greenhouse technology.
A contingent from Springer Memorial School also toured the grounds. Fourth-former Tianna Cumberbatch, who has a keen interest in agriculture, said engaging directly with farmers and technicians provided valuable insight into modern farming practices and potential career pathways within the industry.
Entrepreneurship also featured prominently among the younger generation. Kamaria Boyce, 17, operating under the business name Katories Treats, displayed an array of baked goods and sugar cakes.
She produces a variety of sugar cakes, including orange, orange ginger, pink strawberry, citrus bliss and carrot ginger flavours, and also makes passion fruit biscuits, pineapple rum cake and chocolate Irish cream cake. She noted that she had won a NIFCA medal and explained that although she had hoped for a higher award, she remained grateful.
Asked what inspired her to start so young, Boyce credited her upbringing.
“Well, I grew up in 4H, and as I grew older, I started to develop the love for baking, so I decided to start with this,” she said.
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