Location: Radisson Aquatica Resort, Barbados

Date: 7 June 2013

ABSTRACT

The Research Division Library (RDL) is the main knowledge centre in the Ministry of Food Production, Trinidad and Tobago. It began its digitisation programme in 2011 which required some baseline information on knowledge access, usage, relevance and institutional capacity. The most recent qualitative report undertaken by FAO in 2008 noted that most public domain agricultural information was not yet widely accessible. Inadequate information was further cited as a recurrent challenge to agricultural development. A user survey of 101 random stakeholders was undertaken to provide both quantitative and qualitative parameters for informing the design of an appropriate knowledge transfer model for local agriculture. These indicators are useful in determining the profile and needs of the New Agriculture. Recent shift towards a knowledge based economy has highlighted the importance of knowledge resources as a key competitive asset. The value proposition of leveraging knowledge through a new transfer model presents a strategic option for exploiting agricultural knowledge at the right time, to the right person and in the right format.  The underlying assumption is based on strategic positioning of the knowledge asset for a sustainable and profitable sector.

ABSTRACT

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) is the most popular protected agriculture cultivated crop in Dominica. Production is however characterised by low yields and an increasing incidence /severity of bacterial wilt (Ralstonia solanacearum). A trial was conducted to evaluate the suitability of four locally available media to exclude the disease and make production cost effective.  The media were promix, coconut coir, partially decomposed plant residue from the bay oil extraction process and a locally produced organic compost. Soil was used as a control media. TX54, the most commonly grown tomato variety, was selected for the trial. All plants were subjected to the same fertiliser regime and other management practices. The trial was conducted in two protected agriculture structures, one with blue plastic covering and the other with reinforced clear plastic cover. The highest yields were obtained from the organic compost and from the bay oil residue. Plants grown in the organic compost were shorter than those grown in the bay oil residue. Plants grown under the reinforced clear plastic were taller than those grown under the blue plastic. The types of cover did not affect fruit yield, neither structure cover nor potting mix type had any effect on plant width.

The abstract for the paper, An examination of temperature and rainfall trends in Trinidad and Tobago from 1970 to 2011 states:

Temperature and rainfall data were examined from two sites: Piarco, Trinidad (10°37’N; 61°21’W) and Crown Point, Tobago (11°09’N; 60°51’W). The Trinidad data cover the period January 1 1971 to December 31 2010 where data of maximum and minimum temperatures and rainfall were recorded daily. The Tobago data cover the period January 1 1970 to December 31 2011 with two gaps in the temperature data of 5 months and just under 2.5 months respectively and also some other days without data. The rainfall data for Tobago had three gaps in recordings of 1 month each and two further gaps of 9 and 7 months respectively. Linear regression models suggest average annual rises at Piarco of maximum and minimum temperatures of 0.04894°C and 0.04551°C respectively. At Crown Point similar models suggest average annual rises of maximum and minimum temperatures of 0.01332°C and 0.03468°C respectively. No rainfall trends could be discerned at Piarco. At Crown Point there is some evidence to suggest that rainfall is increasing in May and decreasing in October, no rainfall trends could be discerned for the other 10 months or on an annual basis.

Media Release: Israel and Brazil reps pay courtesy calls on CARDI

Agriculture and Climate Part I: Understanding and differentiating climate variability and climate change by Clyde W. Fraisse, J. W. Jones and Leslie Anthony Simpson. CARDI Factsheet PSC# JA/001/11 .St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago: Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute, 2013.  http://www.cardi.org/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2013/05/Agriculture-and-Climate-Part-I-factsheet.pdf

Agriculture and Climate Part II: Adaptation and mitigation strategies to climate change by Clyde W. Fraisse, J. W. Jones and Leslie Anthony Simpson. CARDI Factsheet PSC# JA/009/11 .St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago: Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute, 2013.  http://www.cardi.org/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2013/05/Agriculture-and-Climate-Part-II-factsheet.pdf