The Deputy Minister of the Primary Sector of the Government of the Canary Islands, Eduardo García, has held a meeting with the president of the Canary Islands Agrotechnology Cluster, Federico Cuyás, and the members of its board of directors Laura Santiago, Carlos Armas, Iván Hernández, and José Luis Sujar, to learn about the projects developed by this association, established last July by more than 40 organizations from the agricultural and technological fields with the aim of providing innovative solutions to Canary Islands farmers.
**Companies, cooperatives, technology startups, research centers, universities, scientific personnel, and public administrations** are part of this new entity focused on the development of collaborative projects that translate into real knowledge transfer to the primary sector and serve to improve the **efficiency, sustainability, and competitiveness** of the Archipelago's agricultural holdings
In this regard, the Deputy Minister of the Primary Sector of the Government of the Canary Islands highlighted that "the commitment to technology and innovation is today an essential condition to guarantee the future of the primary sector in a context of increasing competition between companies and territories. The Canary Islands cannot base its positioning on production volume, but rather on quality and the incorporation of knowledge, digitalization, and advanced solutions that allow for improved efficiency, added value, and strengthened competitiveness of our farms".
Likewise, he stressed that “initiatives like the Agrotechnology Cluster contribute decisively to the modernization of the Canary Islands' agricultural sector, facilitating the real transfer of knowledge to the sector and the development of solutions adapted to our productive reality. Collaborative work between companies, research centers, and public administrations allows us to move towards a more professionalized, innovative primary sector, prepared to face the challenges of the global market”.
For his part, Cuyás thanked the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food Sovereignty for its support of the Cluster and highlighted "the shared vision of promoting a more innovative, sustainable, and competitive primary sector, with solutions adapted to the reality of the Canary Islands' agricultural sector."Initially driven by the Canary Association of Startups and Technology-Based Companies (EMERGE), this public-private collaboration space is now fully operational with six initiatives submitted to regional and European calls, as well as working groups focused on topics such as **digitalization, sustainability, water resources, or climate resilience.**Furthermore, in the coming months, this innovation forum plans to address new projects that respond to the challenges of the primary sector in the Canary Islands through the application of technologies such as **robotics, the Internet of Things** (IoT), or **artificial intelligence** in various processes, including crop planning or pest control