Govt bringing innovation to agriculture

THE Government of Barbados, in its quest to modernise the way business is being done, has been undertaking innovative approaches, especially in the agriculture sector. 

The Hon. Indar Weir, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security said this is evident by the proposed creation of an Innovation Center, which will feature exhibits about agriculture and applied technology combined with devices related to Extended Reality (ER) and the Internet of Things (IoT). 

“With this innovation and a little imagination, assisted by technology, it will be possible to travel through fields planted with crops, and manipulate models that simulate the impact on the crops from water, light, and fertilisers,” he told the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Solutions Forum organised by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recently.  

The two-day event, co-hosted by the Government of Fiji, brought together Heads of Governments, UN agencies, and representatives from a wide spectrum of farmers organizations, NGOs, civil society, and innovators to incubate, promote and scale-up home-grown and imported solutions to accelerate the achievement of the agriculture, food and nutrition related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in SIDS. 

Minister Weir also revealed that Digital Fabrication Laboratories (Fab Lab) will be created to reduce the digital divide and increase the development of technological solutions, especially in the agricultural tourism and agribusiness sectors.  

He further explained that the Fab Lab will also serve as an educational platform in which different capacity building opportunities will be provided by adopting a virtual classroom to empower individuals, especially women and youth, to become entrepreneurs and be better prepared for the work force. 

Such knowledge sharing, Weir emphasised, is essential if players in the sector are to be in a position to make informed decisions with respect to their businesses, transforming them into entities that are internationally competitive and export oriented. 

“Indeed, this forum will create the opportunity for participants to discuss areas of collaboration, cooperation, and benefit from synergies,” he added. (TL)