New technologies in agriculture

Introduction At the twentieth meeting of the Standing Committee of Ministers Responsible for Agriculture under the heading 'Technology Generation, Validation and Transfer', the discussions centered around the formation of yet another institution Â- PROCICARIBE - to 'integrate and coordinate all the agricultural research and development organizations throughout the Caribbean involved in technology development, export market development and the garnering of funds in support thereof.' It is interesting to note that the above in total or parts were already the mandate of the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI); and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA);. The Caribbean Council for Science and Technology (CCST); also had the area of coordination and promotion of technology as its mandate. Another network will thus be formed with the same basic weaknesses inherent in the very institutions that contributed to the network functions. The point is made to highlight some of the fundamental problems associated with technology generation, adaptation and transfer in the subregion. It is not that there is no work being done. However, the volume of work done at the universities and other institutions is small. The fundamental problem is that the work being done does not appear in the mainstream of activities and is therefore not reported. In addition, in spite of the existence of numerous bodies entrusted with a coordinating function, there can be very little coordination, since there is very little information sharing.