–as Guyana takes farming to a whole new level

LOCAL farmers are set to benefit from the Ministry of Public Telecommunications (MoPT)’s e-agriculture project, which seeks to integrate technology with traditional farming.

Subject Minister, Ms Kathy Hughes, with the aid of ‘tech’ wizzes from Team Innosys sought to introduce this new field at the Demerara-Mahaica Regional, Agricultural and Commercial Exhibition (RACE) on Saturday.

According to Minister Hughes, the aim behind fostering the development of e-agriculture is firstly to show farmers that there are different, innovative and even more efficient ways of engaging in agriculture when you can integrate new technology.

But instead of just implementing new programmes and introducing new technology, she explained, “The first thing really is being able to reach out to farmers, and that’s why we’re here today; to be able to speak to a farmer one-on-one, and show him a different way of doing it.”

She said that in other countries, technology has been playing a vital role in agriculture, with the use of drones and robots in the farmsteads and information and communication technology (ICT) platforms to connect farmers and consumers.
Here in Guyana, however, incremental changes are being advanced.

Team Innosys had won the ministry’s CODESPRINT competition, where they were tasked with developing an application that can connect farmers not only to each other, but with consumers as well. This application will soon be introduced to local farmers as the first major activity for e-agriculture.

Team member, Julius Simon related to the Guyana Chronicle that in creating the ‘app’, the team sought to make its features as user-friendly as possible, since they were aware that farmers are not tech-savvy.

The minister echoed similar sentiments, in that she highlighted that all of the ministry’s efforts will be conceptualised with this in mind.

She also said that while young people may not be interested in traditional methods of farming, technology again provides scope for new and innovative ways of producing.

Noting that integrating new technology into traditional methods of agriculture, while seeking to encourage young people to get involved in this field is the “thrust” that drives e-agriculture, Minister Hughes said:

“We may be moving out of sugar, but we want to show farmers that there are other areas that you can get into and raise your production levels.”

However, this e-agriculture sector will be set in motion next year as the telecommunications ministry engages in a series of training and sensitization sessions for local farmers. Minister Hughes noted that while farmers from Region Four will benefit first, the aim is to utilize the ICT hubs that are being created across Guyana to connect with farmers in various communities and regions.

According to her, “The Internet is such a vast learning place that farmers can easily jump on and gather so much information.”