«Technology is the way young people today express themselves. Dominican agriculture needs innovation, which is why the JAD sees in this meeting the opportunity to attract new generations to work the land, and together take the next step towards a new agriculture».
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, September 13, 2017 (IICA). With the theme «Agricultural Agenda 2048: the challenges of innovation», the Dominican Agro-Business Board (JAD) inaugurated the XXVIII National Meeting of Agricultural Leaders, which was held on September 13, 14 and 15 in the tourist zone of Punta Cana. Authorities, farmers and businessmen from the agricultural sector of the Dominican Republic participated in the opening ceremony, such as José López, Frank Lam, Ángel Estévez, Osvaldo Ortega, Emilio Olivo Toribio, among others.
The welcome speech were given by Mr. Osmar Benítez, executive president of the JAD, who emphasized the importance of including new technologies within the national agriculture as a way to increase competitiveness and attract generations, such as millenials», who can link technology to agriculture.
The event, organized by the JAD, gathered around 450 representatives from the agricultural sector, who heard the lectures of international experts on the need for innovation in production processes and the proposals of agricultural public policies governed by the Ministry of Agriculture.
The central speech of the event was given by the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Ángel Estevez, who valued the effort of «bringing specialized human resources to transfer this knowledge to the leaders of the sector», as well as emphasizing that the inclusion of these new technologies in the agricultural production opens up new market opportunities, streamlines production and generates more wealth for producers. «
As a contribution to this activity, the IICA Representation in the Dominican Republic invited Dr. Pedro Rocha, International Specialist in Biotechnology and Biosafety at Headquarters, who was in charge of lecturing on «Biotechnology and the Food of the Future». Other conferences dealt with issues of information technology and agriculture, precision sensors in agricultural production, among others; taught by national and international specialists.
More information: hector.perez@iica.int
