Financing will be provided by the 10th European Development Fund Intra-ACP Programme entitled Agriculture Policy Programme with focus on the Caribbean and Pacific, initiative developed with support of IICA.
Antigua, August 22, 2016 (IICA). Two technical officers from the Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Fisheries and Barbuda Affairs (MALFBA) will receive a full sponsorship to participate in an international study tour on Technology Advances in Agricultural Production, Water and Nutrient Management, which will take place in the United States of America.
The objectives of the 10-day training program and study tour are to:
- Improve knowledge and understanding of recent technological advances in the areas of biotechnology, sensor-based irrigation, information management, precision agriculture and remote sensing technologies.
- Familiarize themselves with the farm-level impact of each of these advances on water and nutrient management under changing climatic conditions.
- Provide an opportunity to observe and discuss the practicality and economics of integrating these innovations into the mainstream of major crops.
- Review trends and challenges in the agricultural global market and show how farmers, agribusinesses and policymakers are adjusting to them by using state-of-the-art information and technology available for today’s agricultural production.
The program will begin on August 22, 2016, at the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) headquarters in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. After three days in this state, participants will travel to Tennessee, Arkansas and finally to St Louis, Missouri. Then, from St. Louis to Des Moines, Iowa, and then on Washington, D.C., where the program will conclude on Friday, September 2.
Upon their return both persons will be expected to share information through an experience-sharing session to be organized by the localCaribbean Agricultural Research & Development Institute (CARDI) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) Delegation in Antigua and Barbuda.
Recipients of this study tour are Vanessa Prophet, Research Officer and Ika Fergus, Extension Officer.
Support to entities
IICA is the agency for the Caribbean Action of the Agriculture Policy Programme (APP), while the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) is the executing agency for the Intra-ACP component.
In implementing the Caribbean Action, CARDI is partnering with IICA and the CARICOM Secretariat (CCS) to enhance the capability of regional agricultural development organizations to address the development needs of smallholder agriculture. CARDI is also responsible for a specific area of focus, which is to demonstrate to small producers/entrepreneurs the use of improved-sustainable production systems, including the use of appropriate technology aids,.
To this end, CARDI and the CTA are collaborating to support the travel and participation of appropriate Caribbean stakeholders in the training in the USA.
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