KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining is looking to partner with private-sector companies to integrate more technology to improve farming practices, particularly on small farms.

Addressing the 20th Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) Investments and Capital Markets Conference at The Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in New Kingston recently, Portfolio Minister Floyd Green, underscored the importance of infusing technology in the sector.

“We have to transform agriculture through technology. How we do agriculture now has to be different than how we did it 10… or 20 years ago; that means we have to continue to infuse modern technology,” he stated.

“Additionally, there are significant challenges in agriculture now in relation to labour, and the only way to truly treat with those labour challenges is through utilisation of the technology,” the minister added.

Consequently, Green said the ministry is seeking to forge partnerships with technology stakeholders.

He advised that he has met with young people who have developed artificial intelligence (AI) models for the sector, while underscoring that financing is critical for the rollout of the targeted initiatives.

Green revealed extension officers are being trained in the use of technology to help farmers make better decisions about their farms. He cited, as an example, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones which he said will reduce the amount of time a farmer spends on a particular task.

“We are now training drone pilots… because the reality is that things like land clearance, things like fertilisation, we’re going to have to move from one man walking around for two days, to a drone coming in and doing it in 15 minutes. We are training… so that our extension services will have the know-how. But ideally, what we are looking to do is to partner with private-sector companies to drive this,” the minister said.

Meanwhile, Green informed that the ministry has partnered with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to improve agricultural practices.

“We do have a project now… where we are trying to get into small farms and put in smart devices… that will tell the temperature of the soil. That will send off a notification using the phone, so the farmer knows that he needs to water now. We are doing a number of those things on our small farms to get our farmers up to speed,” he stated.

The minister indicated that other initiatives are being undertaken with the Organic Association.

“We are rolling out a programme with the organic association to help our farmers learn about soil, soil health [and] composting, organics… so it’s work in progress,” he said.

“We don’t speak about soil health a lot. But one of the things that we have to do in transforming agriculture, is to ensure that our farmers appreciate soil health and have ways in which they can measure, so that they plan their nutrition regimes from a data-driven perspective,” Green emphasised.

He pointed out that a number of the agricultural sector’s larger stakeholders are able to utilise technology in their operations.

“What we have to do is to ensure that our small farmers, who make up 90 per cent of our agriculture sector, can access that technology,” the minister added.
– JIS