00:00Speaking at the China-Caribbean Agricultural Development and Transformation Seminar,
00:05Minister of Agriculture Ravi Rattiram hailed the timing of the discussions which seek to improve
00:10and optimize the daily lives of farmers through the use of science and technology.
00:15Our country is currently seeking to accelerate the transformation of the agricultural sector,
00:21recognizing that our approach must be grounded in the realities of our farmers and markets,
00:28our natural resources, our climate, and the constraints that the farming community may face.
00:35Rattiram also highlighted that the government has set an important objective for the Ministry of Agriculture going forward.
00:41That is to increase the agriculture contribution to GDP.
00:46What we have seen happening over the last decade is really a decade of destruction,
00:50where our contribution of agriculture to GDP has fallen from $1.4 billion down to $650 million.
01:00We have lost more than 50 percent of the contribution of agriculture.
01:04In her keynote address, Li Shwedi, Division Head at the Office of Managing Science and Technology Backyard
01:10at the China Agricultural University, highlighted the key objectives of the STB program.
01:15The global development of STBs have three objectives.
01:21First, to build a top platform for research.
01:25Second, to establish a top platform for young talent development.
01:30Third, to create a top platform for cooperation across the global south.
01:37Together, these three objectives aim to bring the benefits of China's agricultural experience
01:48to the broader global community.
01:52The STB program also seeks to bring higher technology developed in the laboratories
01:56to the field of ordinary farmers and make them working practice.
02:00Dominic Ranrup, TV6 News.
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