The agriculture sector is affected by weather and climate. A two-day workshop on Climate Early Warning System (CLEWS) organized by the Solomon Islands Meteorological Service (SIMS) in collaboration with Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAL) with support from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. The workshop is intended for SIMS and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAL) as well as farmers to consult and identify how SIMS can provide tailored climate services to support farmers.
Speaking at the opening of the workshop, Deputy Secretary Technical for the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology Mr. Chanel Iroi said that it is important to continuously improve the climate products and information for the agriculture sector. MAL can use this tailored climate information for precise decision making within the ministry as well as provision of climate sensitive advice to farmers.
He said this consultative process must result in an establish sustainable system to generate and provide climate information to the agriculture sector as well as feedbacks from MAL and farmers to SIMS for continuous improvement of services.
Meanwhile FAO’s Technical Advisor, Honiara office Mr. Raushan Kumar expressed his gratitude that the workshop is now underway which is an important exercise that every country must do in order to have a proper Agro-meteorological data to enhance proper Agricultural planning and increase effectiveness in agronomic planning and practices.
He reiterated FAO’s commitment to help provide technical and analytical knowledge as well hardware and software support to ensure that such innovative initiatives in the country are successfully implemented.
The workshop is attended by staff of the Ministry of Agriculture, farmers, individual researchers and other stakeholders.
Ends//