Four meteorological technicians are set to undergo training in weather forecasting in Barbados at a cost of $7.2M, the Ministry of Agriculture said in a press release.

The ministry said meteorological technicians 1 Morina Elliot, Carshena Gordon and Ziona Michelle and acting Meteorological Technician II, Michelle Patterson, will participate in the 18-month course set for Friday at the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology.

The course will be complemented with three months on-the-job training. It will provide the students with the basic theoretical background in dynamic, physical and synoptic meteorology while emphasising the practical applications of this theory to weather analysis and forecasting, particularly in the tropics.

The release said Minister Robert Persaud on Monday met with acting Chief Hydromet Officer Bhaleka Seulall and the four officers. He said this is the first training session organised since 2002 and it will boost the capacity of the Hydromet Service which will aid the ministry in the planning of drainage and irrigation and crop patterns. Persaud also said the Agricultural Meteorological Service within the Hydromet Service has been reactivated.

Meanwhile, construction has restarted on the Doppler Radar Project and staff to man this project have been trained in Germany.