RADA launches mobile app

Local farmers now have improved access to extension services of the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) following the launch of the entity's first ever mobile application (app).

Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Floyd Green, who launched the app on November 24, hailed its development as a "big move" for the sector.

"The only way we're going to get more young people in agriculture and the only way we're really going to have the reach that we need to move agriculture forward, is through the utilisation of technology. We have to evolve in the agricultural space," he said. With the app, which is available for download on Android devices, farmers can access information, including crop-monitoring techniques, pest control strategies and sustainable farming practices.

"One of the things that the app will allow [is], if you are a farmer in the field and you have a smartphone and you see something on your crop or your animal is acting up and you can't understand it, instead of having to call and wait for an extension officer to visit, you can take a picture of what you see happening with your crop, you can send it in real time to RADA and you will get a response in real time," Green stated. He said that farmers have complained about a lack of extension services and that RADA is stretched in terms of the number of officers that it has to execute these.

Noting the global average of farmers to extension officers being one to 250 or 300, Green informed that in Jamaica, that ratio is one extension officer to 1,000 farmers. He pointed out that since most farmers now have a smartphone, it is an opportune time to utilise that device to give them the services they need.

While the app is open to all, only farmers registered with RADA will be able to access the entire suite services available via that portal.