Dylan Chong and his farm Croydon in the Mountains, walked away with the ‘Young Champion Farmer’ award at the Montpelier Agricultural Show held in St James on Easter Monday (April 1),

The agricultural show has been held every Easter Monday since 1987. It is an opportunity for hard-working farmers and other stakeholders in the vital agricultural sector to showcase their achievements and contributions to the sector. Chong won out of a pool of farmers from St James, emphasizing the advancement of the youth who have contributed towards the development of the sector.

According to Chong, his farm located in Catadupa, St James, won not just for what it produces but also the technique and technologies being implemented there.

“We won not just for scale but our diverse agroforestry, which is using the method of forestry and implementing agricultural techniques around that – a form of permaculture,” he exp,ained. 

Croydon in the Mountains is the birthplace of Jamaican revolutionary and National Hero Sam Sharpe. Chong also brings a revolutionary ethos to his farm offering: eco-tourism, agro-tourism, and farm-to-table on a private forest reserve that is currently rated the number one farm tour in Jamaica on Trip Advisor.  

Chong says of his permanent agriculture technique that it is: “The most sustainable way of farming. Much healthier for the land and environment, to do it organically. We are cultivating culture! A culture of eco stewardship and to normalise planting trees, of having organic sustainable practices, of growing food, and an affordable way of farming. If other farmers across the island adopted these practices, it will increase our GDP drastically.”

He added of the win: “This is the greatest opportunity to bring forward our initiative of a cultural shift.  Our ‘One, One, One’ initiative which was launched in January of this year, will involve planting a million trees island wide every year.”

Chong, who was a part of the 2022 cohort of the Honey Bun Foundation’s advisory committee, has maintained several techniques learned in the programme, chief among which is maintaining a group of advisors with the requisite knowledge to help him change the way farming is done.

Chong will go up against other parish winners at Denbigh Agricultural Show 2024 for the title of ‘All-Island Champion Farmer’.