O Ministério de Agricultura da Costa Rica e o IICA definem plano de ação para implementar soluções de agricultura digital e de precisão em prol dos pequenos produtores costarricenses

San José, 30 de setembro de 2024 (IICA). The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock of Costa Rica (MAG) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) held the workshop “Climate Information Management for Agricultural Production in Costa Rica: Technological Solutions in Precision Agriculture for Small Agricultural Producers,” to strengthen existing technical cooperation efforts aimed at reducing the digital gap among small producers and improving productivity, resource use, and agricultural sustainability in the country.

The workshop coordinated actions between two projects: AGROINNOVATION 4.0, which seeks to improve agricultural productivity and sustainability through training, research, technology transfer, and precision agriculture techniques, led by the National Agricultural Extension Directorate of Costa Rica; and the AGRO-INNOVA project, funded by the European Union and implemented by IICA, which aims to build capacities, manage knowledge, and promote technological innovations in agroforestry systems adapted to the Central American Dry Corridor, thus contributing to food security, increased productivity, and climate resilience for highly vulnerable households.

These initiatives led to the creation of a roadmap during the workshop, based on progress and lessons learned from pilot projects established since 2019. These projects focus on managing weather stations to measure agroclimatic conditions on farms, linked to profitability, productivity, and resource use, and are being implemented among agricultural producers and technical teams.

"The idea is to use the available technology, scale it, and strengthen the precision agriculture actions of the Ministry, with the goal of increasing productivity, profitability, and maximizing physical spaces for agricultural production. This partnership with IICA is a great opportunity to harness and enhance that potential, organize it, and redirect it," said Fernando Vargas, Technical Vice Minister of MAG.

O plano de ação se formou com o apoio de 20 técnicos e permitirá que o Ministério conte com soluções digitais para coletar, intercambiar e analisar dados em tempo real, melhorando assim a tomada de decisões e a produtividade agrícola.

Pedro Avendaño, Coordenador do Projeto AGRO-INNOVA, enfatizou: “Devemos identificar os engarrafamentos e as áreas de oportunidade no gerenciamento da informação climática, pensando nas problemáticas e necessidades das pessoas produtoras; com a finalidade de fornecer soluções baseadas em tecnologias digitais que permitam que elas tomem decisões precisas baseadas em dados e no menor tempo possível”. 

O evento contou com a participação de técnicos e especialistas do IICA e da Direção Nacional de Extensão Agropecuária (DNEA) do MAG.

Mais informação:
Gerência de Comunicação Institucional do IICA.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int