Jamaica and IICA to Open Caribbean’s First English-Language Agricultural Innovation Centre

Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green, has pointed to a planned agricultural innovation centre as the next step in a partnership with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) that has lasted more than five decades.

Green told attendees at the IICA Accountability Seminar at Alhambra Inn in Kingston on July 1 that the facility would be the first of its kind in the English-speaking Caribbean. It will follow the model of the digital agricultural centres IICA operates at its headquarters in Costa Rica.

“That centre for agricultural innovation would be a state-of-the-art facility that will serve as a hub for showcasing the latest agricultural technologies, including robotics, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, while demonstrating our practical applications to improve productivity, improve efficiency, and to improve sustainability,” Minister Green stated.

He said students would be able to use virtual reality to take tours and study farming best practices from around the globe. “This is something that is already happening in places like Costa Rica that we want to get here, and we want to do it for the entire region. We have to infuse the technology to ensure that we are gathering the next generation of agricultural entrepreneurs,” the Minister added.

The seminar also reviewed IICA’s work in Jamaica through shared programmes. One outcome is the identification of biological control agents to fight the sweet potato weevil, reducing reliance on chemical treatments. That work was done under the joint Next-Generation Sweet Potato Production Project, which also receives support from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Under the Adopt Caribbean Soil Health for Climate Resilient Agriculture project, Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) extension officers are receiving training in sustainable soil management. They are also being supplied with rapid soil health testing kits to support data-led field interventions.

Targeted capacity-building with IICA has likewise strengthened systems at the Veterinary Services Division (VSD), improving Jamaica’s sanitary, phytosanitary and disease surveillance capacity to guard against serious agricultural threats.

The event included a handover of hurricane relief supplies, which Green welcomed. “One of the things that I like about IICA is that… despite having a set programme, they are flexible enough to respond to new realities. We saw that with Hurricane Melissa, where IICA stepped up and is providing US$30,000 in support towards our recovery efforts,” Minister Green said.

Part of that assistance was delivered as fertilisers and agrochemicals to help farmers as recovery work continues.

IICA Representative in Jamaica, Kent Coipel, pledged continued backing for the partnership. “As we move forward, IICA remains firmly committed to supporting Jamaica’s vision of a modern agricultural sector that embraces innovation, promotes sustainability, enhances food security, and improves the quality of life for all who depend on agriculture,” he said.