The 14th edition of the Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA), took place in the Cayman Islands from 24 – 28 October, 2016. The event attracted farmers, agribusiness entrepreneurs, policy-makers, development partners and representatives from producer organisations, financial institutions, the private sector and the tourist and hospitality trade. Participants were exposed to CropGuard as an innovative system that is being applied to support producers within the agricultural value chain, and create new knowledge-based visualizations.
CropGuard is an innovative information and communication technology (ICT) solution to the pervasive agricultural challenge of crop losses due to pests. The ICT solution utilizes a Mobile App, Web Dashboards and an Open Data API to connect agricultural stakeholders, promote knowledge management and encourage youth in agriculture. The Mobile App seeks to enhance food production by helping farmers, householders and landscapers to protect their crops through pest diagnosis, monitoring and control.
The objective of the session was to examine the ICT application for supporting agriculture production, and other possibilities as they exist in the region. CTA and CARDI recently finalised a study on the use and uptake of ICT solutions for agriculture. Opportunities were highlighted for possible deployment within Caribbean and Pacific countries.