 Agriculture Minister Honourable Alfred Prosper had the opportunity to see first hand, the shipment of small machinery brought in under the second phase of the enhancement of the efficiency of production, distribution supply chain in the fruit and vegetable sector project, also known as the Seven Crops Project. The shipment, which includes tillers and cultivators, aims to reduce farmers' reliance on labour while increasing efficiency and optimising land use, ultimately improving farmers' quality of life. Ambassador of the Republic of China Taiwan to St Lucia, His Excellency Peter Chien-Chien, explains that using modern agricultural machinery is critical to improving a farm's effectiveness and efficiency. He says his government remains committed to assisting St Lucia's agriculture sector in transitioning to more advanced farming methods. Taiwan and St Lucia have long-term agricultural cooperation and our agricultural project is always a successful one. And in that way, it's the idea of Minister Prosper to apply technical technology into agriculture. So we decided to impose some of the machines that we use in Taiwan and try to introduce this machine to the local farmers and help local farmers to be more successful in their production. And also with all this machine, also these ideas come from Minister Prosper, I try to attract more use into agriculture business. So I believe this will be a very good initiative and I'm looking forward to see the good outcome. Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Rural Development, Honourable Alfred Prosper, says with the numerous challenges that the sector faces, the introduction of small machinery is part of efforts to make the agriculture sector more attractive to the younger population. He emphasizes the importance of adapting to farm mechanization as one of the innovations that could be critical to future food security because it allows for the production of more crops at a lower cost. Farmers have been operating more seasonal than year-round. I want to know that our farmers can produce from January to December every year and not have to suffer the consequences of weather conditions in the dry season when production is always low. In order for us to meet our food security needs, the strategy must encompass new technologies and this is a simple and easy form of bringing this technology into the sector and more importantly, I'm convinced mechanization will attract more young persons into the sector. I've always said young persons are not so keen on using the crowbar and using the garden fork and using cutlassies but they are getting to understanding value of small implements like this to ensure that they can reduce production costs and make a greater profit from the sector. The next phase of the initiative will see a public showcase to introduce farmers to the logistics of accessing the machinery as well as its cost. From the communications unit of the Ministry of Agriculture, I am Anisia Antoine reporting.