Tech4agri: The Web series: Ep 4 – It’s called Hydroponics

A method of production using soil less medium and a circulating nutrient water system! It’s called Hydroponics, a long awaited episode of the web series.

Mr. Dipsingh, operator of the Choon Hydroponics farm, shares tips on how he brought his enterprise into a success.

He constantly seeks ways to improve upon the farm. He has maximised his space, ensured regular access to seedlings with his own nursery, looks after the well being of his employees and has cut cost by sourcing all material and inputs for the operation right here in Trinidad and Tobago.

Mr. Dipsingh also explained that Agriculture is a sustainable endeavour for himself and his family as he left a high paying job in the IT sector at the executive level, to pursue farming.

Watch the series for more and do share with your friends and colleagues! Stay dedicated!

 

 

 

Does data belong in the Caribbean?

Photo Courtesy NASA: Eye on the Caribbean at night

“ Is there a #datarevolution happening in the Caribbean?”

This week we have a special post of interest, sort of removed from our usual topics. Of late there is a growing trend for use of data in agriculture particularly for developing countries. However as the Caribbean region is very different from other parts of the world how does this bode for the agri field and on the same note for other sectors in which development is needed?

The Caribbean Open Institute: a regional initiative conceptualized by a community of Caribbean stakeholders and sponsored by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) that seeks to facilitate the emergence of a Caribbean knowledge economy where the use of open data is meant to be the helm for transforming society and improving the quality of life for Caribbean societies.”

Open Data in the Caribbean has the potential to provide a powerful catalyst for enabling greater accountability and transparency; improving public sector efficiency and service delivery; and stimulating economic development through the active, participatory innovation between regional governments and caribbean civil society.

Pacific and Caribbean voices echo at global research forum

This week tech4agri welcomes Faumuina Tafuna’i, Media Officer at Women in Business Development Inc.  who is based on the Pacific island of Samoa.  We feature her work as our guest blogger this month following our engagement at the IFPRI Resilience Conference. As fellow youth in agriculture and journalism we shared similar thoughts on the Caribbean presence at the conference as well as overall impressions. Give her article a read!

At least we were there!

For the first time, Pacific and Caribbean voices were heard at an International Food Policy Research Institute conference – and it won’t be the last.

Asked why the Pacific and Caribbean regions had not been included before, Chief of staff and conference director Rajul Pandya-Lorch says IFPRI are mandated to work where there is the greatest concentration of populations.

However, through the support of The Technical Centre of Rural and Agricultural Co-operation (CTA), a Pacific and Caribbean delegation of private sector, civil agencies and government sector were able to attend the conference in Ethiopia themed on “Building Resilience for Food and Nutrition and Security”.

“Each of the conferences builds on including more actors,” says Pandya-Lorch. “We saw that with the South Asia conference where this time when we announced this conference, we got an immediate phone call from South Asia with an organization wanting to run a side event.

“That’s why CTA with their experience and networks are so important. And we would hope to amplify that participation at the next conference.”

This year’s conference attracted more than 800 participants – 300 more than Pandya-Lorch had anticipated – as well as 21 side events, twice the number of the last conference hosted in Delhi.

CTA sponsored a side event with a high-level Pacific and Caribbean panel to discuss “Enhancing resilience for food and nutrition security in small island economies”. Chaired by CTA director Michael Hailu, the panel also included Gyan Acharya, UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States.