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His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, President of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana delivered the keynote address during the virtual start of the Caribbean AgTech Investment Summit.

Use technology to transform agriculture

Technology can be used as an instrument to further transform agriculture sectors across the region.

 

The reminder came from His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, President of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, as he delivered the keynote address during the virtual start of the Caribbean AgTech Investment Summit, recently. The Caribbean Export Development Agency serves as host for the region’s first agricultural technology investment summit.

 

“As this summit’s emphasis is being placed on investment opportunities in the high-tech agriculture and high-tech agro-processing sectors for medium to long-term investment projects, the AgTech focus has several implications for the region, as it seeks to significantly reduce the large regional food import bill, upscale agricultural production and improve the sector’s competitiveness” he remarked.

 

“As the region gears up to expand this agriculture to include large scale cultivation and processing, technology based solutions will take on an increasingly central role. We live in a technological age. The principal driver of change in our world is technology” he maintained.

 

Acknowledging that it is impossible to deny the role of technology historically in driving economic transformation, Dr. Ali stated that few sectors of our economies are escaping from the influence of technology.

 

“The use of  technology is transforming education, energy, telecommunications, media, health, security, defence and other public services. It is boosting business productivity and efficiency. The COVID-19 pandemic has witnessed greater use of technology, particularly in education, and in business. There is no reason why technology should not be expanded to other areas and sectors of our economy” Dr. Ali asserted.

 

As such, he pointed to information from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United nations which long notes that new technologies will be needed to address water scarcity, improve crop management, reduce yield gaps and costs and improve harvesting and plant breeding.

 

“Much of these technologies are being improved upon with each passing year. Technology therefore offers immense benefits for local agriculture” Dr. Ali commented.

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