Tech4agri: the web series Ep 5 – Pests vs Diseases vs You

What would you do if a pest or disease infested your crop and you stood to lose 40 – 50% of your investment and future profits?

This episode answers just this question with farmers who are seeking or receiving help to combat their pest/disease problem. We found out that climate change plays a clear role in the prevalence of the issue but is this the only reason?

Watch the episode to find out more!

A major part of this episode features the efforts of the Plantwise program-  a global programme led by CABI, which works to help farmers lose less of what they grow to plant health problems.

Working closely with national agricultural advisory services they establish and support sustainable networks of plant clinics, run by trained plant doctors, where farmers can find practical plant health advice.

 

Launched! Tech4agri: the web series

We are live! We have finally reached the day of the launch of our web series.

It has been difficult to get to this point but we are moving forward. We hope you will watch, enjoy and learn! We need your support to move forward and improve upon our delivery and quality.

As a reminder there will be 12 episodes in all for our first season and even stories coming from other Caribbean islands. These will be posted every Monday from now until Christmas, where we will take a break, then air the remaining episodes next year.

The first episode takes a look at a variety food innovations as one of the simplest ways to establish an agribusiness. That being said innovation is not always an easy thing. Took a look to find out more!

Being our launch we have a special two part episode: Part One above and Part two below.

Enjoy and Stay Dedicated!

Forward Onward Ahead – Tech4agri shines again

LOS ANGELES, CA – SEPTEMBER 25: The 2015 Online News Association Conference at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel on September 25, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Daniel Petty/for ONA)

We are edging closer and closer to our launch for tech4agri: the Web series!

We’re diligently working on getting this series up online by Nov 2nd. Hope you are following our progress via instagram, twitter and facebook. Due to our focus on the series, our blog has suffered. Fortunately this is a positive rather than a negative as there is no straight line to success.

You, our readers may be unaware but Tech4agri faces a large number of challenges in terms of limited resources, time management and plain old failed business ventures. Regardless, through perseverance we have made successes and we are happy to tell you about two of them:

Winner yet again!

We are happy to have experience the amazing event that was the Online News Association conference!

Years ago, one of the driving forces behind this US based organization, Ms. MJ Bear, foresaw the important role the digital media would play in the future of journalism and spearheaded a fellowship for early career digital journalists. Unfortunately MJ passed away, however her colleagues saw it fit to bring the fellowship into a reality.

This fellowship allows young journalists with exceptional projects and work experience to be sponsored to attend the conference. Tech4agri with our web series and past resume of work was fortunate to among the chosen few. Learn more of our project and that of the other fellows.

Take the lead

SIEMENS|Stiftung – Empowering People Award 2015

The “empowering people. Award 2015” has opened its virtual gates!

The competition being held for the second time by the Siemens Stiftung (foundation) is looking for low-tech appropriate products and solutions that can help supply basic needs in impoverished regions.

Whether in the category Water & Waste Water, Energy, Food & Agriculture, Waste Management, Healthcare, Sheltering, Education or Information & Communication, any innovation, which has business potential and can be embedded in a social entrepreneurship model can be submitted to the contest.

Siemens Stiftung will be awarding a sum of 200,000 Euros to 23 successful entrants with 50,000 Euros awarded to the first prize winner, 30,000 to the second, 20,000 Euros to the third and 5,000 Euros to further 20 winners each. All entrants submitting promising solutions will be invited to join the “empowering people. Network“, a collaboration of inventors and social entrepreneurs worldwide.

The Network holds regular online and offline meetings, encourages and facilitates cooperations, and makes all products and solutions accessible on a comprehensive Solutions Database. Entries can be submitted online by November 30, 2015, 12pm CET.

And we’re live!

Introducing Tech4agri on Vimeo! We have just launched our vimeo page.  Similar to Youtube it is a video sharing website however the difference lies in the quality production the creators upload.

The site is well known as an online space for documentaries, film makers and original or experiemntal production. Vimeo’s slogan, film with passion resonates with Tech4agri as we currently produce our web series.

With few resources we hope to make a big impact and certainly make a change. All of tech4agri’s work for the past four years have been done with passion.

Our web series will be launched at the end of october and placed here on our vimeo page. Until then see our best productions there, in particular our first 1 minute film: Baroman

A “Baroman” is a transporter within the local wholesale market of Trinidad. While filming an agribusiness owner for the webseries as he goes about his purchases in the market, we had the opportunity to observe a day in the life of a ‘Baroman’. Difficult, fast paced, but with sense of meaning as the market would be worse off without them. Enjoy.

Special thanks to all of you that viewed our precursor mini documentary Agripeople! Watch it again on vimeo

Be sure to also follow us on:

Twitter: @tech4agri       Instagram: tech4agri        Facebook: Technology4agri

Waste not want not: Reworking waste

Have you thought about what you will do with waste that is generated from running your operations? Sometimes the cost of production to bring one’s precious product or service into reality is quite high. It’s almost as if this cost causes physical pain, enough to wince sharply.

Many corporations have turned this around turning waste into by products or filtering this waste into another system entirely which results in greater profit. Did you know that cornflakes began as cooked wheat that had gone stale but was then toasted? Golden Ray a popular butter substitute for many Caribbean dishes is actually a by product of butter itself!

Recycling food waste has been around for quite some time but it is now a major trend in global innovation.

Science is the key.

Bio Bean is an award winning green energy company that has industrialised the process of recycling waste coffee grounds into advanced biofuels. This is a startling innovation! Think about it.

Coffee is the world’s most consumed drink.

Some believe they cannot even function without it. As a result the coffee market is huge for all sorts of products coming out of this one crop. Therefore the amount of remnant coffee grounds is staggering. Now this has all changed with bio bean; waste repursposed.