Ruthvin Harper, agricultural officer seconded to the Caribbean Agricultural Development Institute (CARDI), is among counterparts from Dominica and Jamaica attending a two-month attachment with the Secretariat of the Pacific Community’s Land Resources Division (SPC – LRD) located in Suva, Fiji.{{more}}

The attachment is one of the activities of the CARIFORUM Action under the 10th European Development Fund Agriculture Policy Programme (APP). It involves the training of Caribbean scientists in germplasm development and increased capability of the region in mitigating the impact of climate change.

With a major target commodity of the APP in the Caribbean being root crops, the training that Harper will receive in this commodity would be especially beneficial.

The objectives of the two-month training include learning briefly about the scope of the activities of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community SPC Land Resources Division (SPC-LRD) in line with agriculture development and facilitating trade and market access; to learn the different evaluation methods (tissue culture, screen house and breeding) for evaluating crops for tolerance to different climatic factors; and to learn from field visits and different project partners on areas that link to agriculture development in the Pacific through Fiji, and how that knowledge can contribute or adapt to suit agriculture development in the Caribbean region.

According to a report from Harper, the Secretariat of the South Pacific Community (SPC) has been identified as a Centre of Excellence in this field, Mitigating the Impact of Climate Change in Root Crops; thus its selection to facilitate this training.

Harper returns to the state May 31, 2015.