Sports for All: Skill development competition |04 December 2020
Promoting agriculture and horticulture through the power of sport
Farm work has always been seen as physically demanding, so it is no surprise that farming has always been synonymous with health and good physical condition.
In fact, the relationship between sports and agriculture starts along with the origin of human beings, while during the ancient Olympics, the Olive wreath was the prize for the winners.
To promote agriculture and horticulture by using the power of sport, especially during the ongoing coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, the Seychelles Workers Association for Sport and Health (Swash), the Sports for All Unit within the National Sports Council (NSC), in collaboration with the Seychelles Institute of Agriculture and Horticulture (SIAH) will be conducting its first skill competition for the students today at the institute’s farm at Anse à la Mouche.
Other than promoting physical activities in relation to daily work, the activity will also promote skill competition with students and also to identify students for future national skill competitions.
Among the various activities on today’s programme are collection of fodder, air layering, trimming and pruning of ornamental plants, ridge making, preparation of cuttings, setting up of drinker, assembling of garden hoe, filling up poly bags and restraining of goat.
According to the director of the Sports for All Unit, Francis Remie, the activity is to show the connection or link between farm work and physical activities which can be considered as a good form of exercising.
He, however, explained that nowadays with the introduction of new machinery which eases the job by helping farmers with a lot of the physical work, it is important for them to maintain the basic disciplines and old trick of the trade which will help them remain healthy and in good shape.
Worldwide, many modern sports such as golf, cricket and hockey originated from the agrarian community, especially shepherds who had good leisure time during cattle rearing. Agriculture-related activities inspire many sports events such as timber sports, Kalapoottu (cattle race in the paddy fields of Kerala) and Jallikattu (in Tamil Nadu).
Agriculture products are also the basic fuel for athletes, while different agricultural products act as food, food supplement and medicine thus supports the sports performance.
Ginseng, caffeine, ma huang (Chinese ephedra), turmeric, Boswellia and maca root are the most popular herbs used in exercise and sports and many of the natural herbs have the capacity to augment human performance without falling in the bracket of doping.
Many countries like the United States and China are very fast in using herbs for enhancing sports performance.
Roland Duval