Farmers and agricultural stakeholders across Saint Vincent and the Grenadines are expected to benefit from improved decision-making and climate resilience, following the official handover of 6 automated weather Stations AWS.
The newly installed AWS units are designed to support irrigation, pathogen detection and climate-smart agriculture, ultimately boosting food security and productivity on the islands and across the region.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Cuthbert Knights, emphasized the critical role of data in modern farming practices.
"There is nothing better than when you have information and reliable information to help to direct your actions. So, with touch reliable information our farmers can be better empowered to do what they have to do. We have Extension Officers as well who have to make critical decisions, their access to such data will also help to empowered them. What about our agricultural stakeholders? We need to look at improvement in our crop management. For example, we need to able to optimize our focus and use our irrigation efficiency. And we need to enhance our approach to pest control and increase overall farm productivity. You can't do these things by guess, it's not possible, having dates that will help us to make decisions in these areas is very critical."
Knights added that integrating reliable weather and climate data into farming operations, is a key step in helping the sector adapt to the increasing impacts of climate change.
"Also enabling the farmers optimize their planting schedule and their irrigation management, ultimately leading to increase yields and long-term agricultural resilience. So, what we are saying is that with the collection of this data and the use of this data, it can help the farmers in better managing their cultivation schedule, managing their planting, managing their farms, also helping to do so in a way that we can increase the agriculture yields. Farmers are plagued by many challenges in agriculture and in the agricultural sector."
SOURCE: National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC Radio)
