UWI, Tringen And Yara Sign Agriculture MOU

The country's goals of lowering the multi-billion dollar US Food Import Bill and eventually achieving a level of food security got a boost with the signing of a new Agreement aimed at improving crop yields and building more resilient food systems. Speaking at a Signing Ceremony for a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of the West Indies, Trinidad Nitrogen Company Ltd, and Yara Trinidad Limited, Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, Kazim Hosein, says the Ministry recently acquired a state of the art nitrogen analyser which is being fully utilised by local farmers interested in getting precise data on their soil. "Additionally, we are set to acquire an EMax machine to measure cadmium levels in cocoa beans and soil along with other heavy metal analysis capabilities. This acquisition was made possible through the Cabinet's recent approval of approximately $5 million in funding for the national plant production organisation under the Ministry's Agriculture Stimulus Package." The Minister added the collaboration with UWI, Tringen, and Yara complements the Ministry's existing soil analysis work by generating broader insights into soil quality across the country. "Yesterday we met with NFM, and we are going to increase the production of rice in this country. I know the NFM spoke about the India collaborative. I met with the Indians who came to Trinidad recently. But we have enough rice farmers in this country to feed this nation." Senior Manager of Operations and Engineering at Yara, Parmanand Birju, said the project will have a wide reach. "This is a commitment from both companies to be able to move forward with the University to develop, not only agriculture, a little more of that will be discussed down the road, but really working with the University across departments to build the private sector university relationship." Meanwhile, President of Tringen, Karlon Batchasingh, shared a few details about the project. "The farmer soil nutrition support project that we are launching is a pioneering initiative aimed at addressing one of the most fundamental aspects of agriculture - soil health and fertility." The objectives laid out in the MOU are integrated soil fertility management, regenerative and climate smart agricultural practices, and the creation of a National Soil Database.