Montserrat’s Minister of Agriculture Claude Hogan has been elected to Chair the Board of Governor’s of the Caribbean Agriculture Research and Development Institute (CARDI) for the period 2016 to 2019.
The election took place in the Cayman Islands this week as part of Caribbean Agricultural Week.
Hogan is attending the conference along with Agricultural technical officer Claude Browne. The week, which brings together both practitioners and officials from across the region also included meetings of the Board of Governor’s of CARDI, CARICOM COTED-Agriculture, OECS Agriculture Ministers, CABI, and a Ministerial Caucus on Agriculture.
“The whole world is represented here including folks from the Pacific,” said Minister Hogan. “It’s like the United Nations and who’s who in agriculture.
The agricultural minister has been attending the expo which is featuring ten entrepreneurs from around the Caribbean, along with companies offering new developments in the sector.
“There’s an impressive array of value added products from cassava and sweet potatoes. There’s lots of investment in coconuts because of a strong growth in demand across the region. The approach now is supported by science to improve the coconuts gene pool. There’s a heavy promotion of fish and fish products all at value added level with emphasis on linkages to the tourism industry etc.
