AGROFEST 2008 should be bigger, better and more exciting, promises chief executive officer of the Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS), James Paul.

In a telephone interview on Wednesday, Paul said there would be a bigger livestock section, improved fruit and vegetable exhibits, a dog show and equestrian activities.

The BAS will also be trying to have a bird display for the March 7 to 9 event slated for Queen's Park on the outskirts of The City.

The CEO said the BAS would be coordinating the three-day agricultural exhibition next year and had already started planning.

"We think we have learnt a lot from the first three exhibitions and, actually, we are trying to be cautious in terms of any further exhibitions. It is a bigger undertaking," said Paul.

Paul also promised programme changes to avoid the activities running into each other, as well as more activities on the Sunday so patrons would have more than the cooking shows.

The BAS is looking to do something different on the Friday evening, such as a "lime".

"We're trying to look at the adult population too, but we're also targeting schoolchildren heavily. Hopefully we'll see much better exhibits coming out of the schools themselves," Paul said.

The large attendance at the agricultural exhibition, said Paul, was a good gauge of people's interest in agriculture, particularly in livestock.

"One of the things we're going to do next year is have a system in place to try to get from the patrons attending the show what their real interests are, so we can have actual proof as to the specific areas of the show they are interested in and the ones they are least interested in. We're going to try to do this on a consistent basis." (DS)