The Guyana Government is looking to tap into the renowned technological expertise of India to establish a regional agri-tech campus here to further advance food security efforts in the Caribbean.
This was announced by President Dr Irfaan Ali during his address at a reception held in Georgetown on Thursday evening to commemorate India’s 74th Republic anniversary.
According to the Head of State, India has mastered technology that is efficient, cost effective and reliable – something which they are willing to share with Guyana.
“That is why we had elaborate discussion with the Bangalore Bioinnovation Centre (BBC). Every single day in their life, they wake up testing technology, mastering technology, producing technology that is affordable and practical,” President Ali shared.
“So, they will be working with us in building out, not a Guyana, but a regional agri-tech campus right here, that will support our regional food hub. So, over the next few months, you will see a number of measures that will be aimed at creating this new ecosystem around agriculture, but focusing on high value, focusing on new areas and innovation because that is where the future will go.”
In addition to the agri-tech campus, President Ali said the plan also includes re-engineering the supply and logistics chain, research and development that deals with human resource training, the technology and the improvement in policies that will lead to greater yield and productivity.
” We are building a food production and agricultural system on a platform that will make it competitive, resilient to operate in an economy 2023 and beyond…”
President Ali is currently leading CARICOM’s food security initiative that seeks to reduce the region’s food import bill by 25% by the year 2025.
The BBC is a joint initiative of Department of Biotechnology, Government of India and Department of Electronics, IT, BT and S&T, Government of Karnataka. It works closely with Karnataka Innovation & Technology Society (KITS), a nodal centre for implementing schemes of the Department of Electronics, IT, BT and S&T, Government of Karnataka & its startup cell. It is a State-of-the-art translational research and entrepreneurship centre catering to all the needs of start-ups in life science.
