Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture

Agriculture

Study tour experience concludes with success

Tiempo de lectura: 3 mins.

United States hosted agricultural technicians to help improve capacities in topics such as irrigation and nutrient management, biotechnology and precision agriculture.

The technicians were exposed to an intensive and interactive program which offered exceptional highlights and features.

Antigua and Barbuda. Two technicians from the Ministry of Agriculture Lands Fisheries and Barbuda Affairs benefited from a 10-day study tour in the United States, an experience that will help them improve their abilities to compete in the global market and assist farmers in their day-to-day operations. 

The technicians participated in the International Training Program and Study Tour on Technology Advances in Agricultural Production, Water and Nutrient Management, from August 22 to September 2, 2016.

The tour was facilitated by the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), under the 10th EDF EU-funded project entitled Agriculture Policy Programme (APP), executed with support of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).

The workshop was designed for innovative farmers, agronomists, soil scientists, researchers and extensionists from national and international agricultural research institutes and universities, as well as policymakers from governments and ministries in charge of agricultural productivity and planning. Representing Antigua and Barbuda were Ika Fergus, Extension Officer and Vanessa Prophet, Research Officer,.

The technicians were exposed to an intensive and interactive program which offered exceptional highlights and features including:

  • International faculty from IFDC, leading U.S. agricultural producers and other international experts.
  • Diverse and participatory activities based on training activities, key lectures and films.
  • Written training materials for permanent reference.
  • Eight-and-a-half days of field visits to observe recent advances in irrigation and nutrient management, biotechnology and precision agriculture, and one-and-a-half days of classroom-style presentations and discussion opportunities.

Prophet and Fergus commented that they had learnt a lot from each other: “We have things in common and things that are different”. They also reported that the presenters were very knowledgeable in their subject areas.

Upon return, one of the commitments was that both beneficiaries will present highlights of the study tour to their colleagues, farmers, the Caribbean Agricultural Research & Development Institute (CARDI and IICA officials.

IICA is the Agency for the Caribbean Action of the APP, while the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) was instrumental in this study tour.

In implementing the Caribbean Action, CARDI is partnered with IICA and the CARICOM Secretariat (CCS) to enhance the capacity of Regional Agricultural Development Organizations to address the developmental needs of smallholder agriculture.

More information:

craig.thomas@iica.int

Details of the tour

Share

Related news​

Santo Domingo, República Dominicana

July 9, 2025

Alongside agribusiness leaders in the Dominican Republic, IICA Director General highlights the opportunities afforded by Agriculture 4.0 to capitalize on the strategic potential of Latin America and the Caribbean

IICA Director General Manuel Otero delivered a keynote speech on innovation in production systems at the headquarters of the Dominican Agribusiness Board.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

July 9, 2025

On a visit to the Dominican Republic, IICA Director General highlighted the country’s tremendous progress in agricultural productivity and food security

At the start of an official visit to the country, the IICA Director General met separately in Santo Domingo with Minister of Agriculture, Limber Cruz, and Deputy Minister of Multilateral Foreign Policy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rubén Silié, with whom he discussed IICA’s main technical cooperation areas in the Dominican Republic, most notably joint work to combat and eradicate African Swine Fever (ASF) and other biosecurity issues, and contributions in various areas towards innovation, digitalization and the resilience of the local agriculture sector.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

San Jose and Turrialba, Costa Rica

July 7, 2025

Latin American and Caribbean public and private sector representatives and European Union officials meet at IICA to discuss pathways towards sustainable livestock production

More than eighty public and private sector representatives from Latin America and the Caribbean held discussions with European Union officials on how to foster more sustainable livestock production systems, during a working meeting jointly organized by the EU’s AL-INVEST Verde program and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins