The five-day training “Moving from Shifting Agriculture towards Agroforestry Systems in Suriname” is currently being attended by staff members of the departments of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries (LVV), Regional Development and Sport (ROS), the Center for Agricultural Research in Suriname (CELOS), the Anton de Kom University of Suriname, Tropenbos Suriname, and a few farmers, mostly from the interior.
The training is a component of the aforementioned two-year bilateral technical collaboration between Brazil and LVV, with ROS serving as the supporting counterpart. The Federal University of Viçosa and the Brazilian Agency for Cooperation (ABC) collaborate on the project as a whole (UVF).
Alternatives to returning to prehistoric agricultural methods are looked at during the course. According to LVV, it is advisable to revive agricultural systems that have been used for generations by indigenous peoples and Maroons while combining them with modern commercial farming techniques.
Professors from the University of Viçosa, who have conducted academic research in Brazil on agroforestry and agricultural systems that successfully maintain the ecosystem and are used by the farmers there, will deliver 9 training courses in Paramaribo.
To put up a demonstration pilot plot that will be observed by national stakeholders for a year, inland orientation trips will be made to an appropriate location. The results of the demonstration tests that were conducted will be recorded in a project document and made available to the general audience.
Agricultural Research, Marketing and Processing Directorate (DLOAV) acting director Anand Ramkisoensing stated at the beginning of the seminar that farmers who own agricultural land or agricultural land must also have the skills and resources to create safe food. Ramkisoensing stated, “The threats in the world, the worldwide issues on the high fertilizer costs and the limited supply of phosphate and potassium, push us to combine forces and look for answers.
