The future of agriculture in Barbados is looking up and Government is working with a number of organisations to ensure the sustainability of the sector.

Several initiatives being developed to drive the sector forward were discussed recently when Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Dr. Victor Villalobos, met with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Maxine McClean, at her office in Culloden Road, St. Michael.

Dr. Villalobos updated the Minister on a number of projects planned for the region through his office, and outlined plans to offer educational opportunities in agriculture at the post graduate level.

He also informed her about several decisions made at the recently-held Meeting of the Ministers of Agriculture of the Americas 2015 and the Eighteenth Regular Meeting of the Inter-American Board of Agriculture in Cancun ??? Riviera Plata, Mexico, which included the approval of a grant to facilitate the further training of persons in agriculture.

The Director General also explained that during the Ministers??? meeting, officials discussed several ideas pertaining to increasing productivity by producing more food per unit of land, and reducing water without affecting production through the application of technology.

Senator McClean pointed out that Government was keen to assist the youth in advancing in the agricultural sector, and cited the Youth in Agriculture project as one of the ways that it was assisting young persons.

She also updated Dr. Villalobos on other programmes targeting the youth, including a joint initiative between this country and Guyana which saw a number of students being trained there through scholarships provided by the Guyana School of Agriculture.

kim.ramsay-moore@barbados.gov.bb

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