FAO Trains Dominicans to Use Drone Technology to Digitize Agriculture Systems

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) trained Dominican farmers on the use of drone technology for digitizing agricultural systems. The 12-week training was organized by the Division of Agriculture and implemented by FAO sub-regional coordinator for the Caribbean region, Dr. Renata Clarke.

The top FAO official said digital tools can be used to revolutionize agricultural practice and boost food security in Dominica. She said drone technology can transform farming techniques in the country and reposition Dominica to be a regional leader in drone-agricultural systems.

According to her, the FAO team trained farming enthusiasts on flying drones, using drones to collect farming data, and interpreting the data generated by the agricultural aircraft. Clarke stated that the 3-month training took the forms of lectures, practical demonstrations, and targeted assignments. She also revealed that accessing and using geospatial tools such as drones and satellite data have enhanced farming operations in the past decade.

We know that the use of drones together with other complimentary tools such as smart farm sensors like digital and internet connecting rainfall temperature and soil moisture sensors can transform the way we understand the risks and other challenges to effectively and efficiently manage agriculture and enable ministry officials and producers to come up with more timely and better decisions

Dr. Renata Clarke, FAO sub-regional coordinator for the Caribbean region

While adding that drone technology can lure youths into agriculture, Clarke said Dominicans must come up with veritable systems to make farming sustainable and profitable on the long term. She said the objective of FAO is to institutionalize various digital technologies for farming purposes in Dominica, so the innovations can serve as models that Dominica can implement in other regional countries.

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