-another intervention to aid farmers during El nino situation
Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud yesterday paid a visit to Nothingville Backlands, Hope, East Coast Demerara, to assess the works in progress to sustain cattle farmers, in light of the El Nino situation now being experienced.
During an interview with the Government Information Agency (GINA), Minister Persaud said that the exercise is in keeping with Government’s efforts to implement innovative methods by which cattle farmers will be provided with an adequate supply of feed for their livestock.
The remains of rice straw will be used with molasses and urea to create a higher quality of feed for cattle.
He noted that rice straw is being used to accumulate feed supply for the animals during this dry period and also to introduce another type of technology to the livestock sector.
“This exercise is privately owned. Government now has to gather a very rudimentary type of technology and we are now looking to import another five of the machines used to bale the rice straws and this will be very useful, when we are dealing with  either the El Nino dry weather conditions or during the flood conditions,” Minister Persaud said.
He noted that since there is  difficulty in accessing feed materials for cattle, there should be more intense husbandry and proper flock management by creating feed pens instead of having animals roaming.
He stated that in addition to this exercise benefiting livestock farmers, government has also embarked on a rigorous cultivation programme which would put less pressure on irrigation needs. This has begun in Regions Two and Four and is scheduled to commence in the others regions shortly.
“This will allow us, when some areas are harvesting, to divert resources and even the water we have to areas where we need and where the rice and other crops are at different stages. So this type of activity is important in our part of our world and in managing the El Nino season,” he said.
Livestock farmers will be required to work through the Ministry’s National Dairy Development Programme (NDDP) to obtain access to the bales of feed.
Regions Five and Six are scheduled next to benefit and according to the Agriculture Minister, the technology is taking the livestock sector to another level, facilitating a more diversified and modernized agriculture sector.
Director of the NDDP, Dwight Waldron, noted that since the commencement of the exercise, in excess of 15,000 pounds of rice straw has been acquired and will be distributed to farmers throughout the coast.
He disclosed that the Ministry will also be embarking on a training programme for farmers countrywide with respect to the exercise. This will ensure that farmers are knowledgeable in the storing and processing methods of the rice straw as a feed substitute and also better equip them with basic knowledge in food security and proper husbandry.
Twenty thousand gallons of molasses will be acquired during the coming week to be distributed throughout the coast to deal with the treatment of the straw.
The training exercise will also be introduced to students of the Guyana School of Agriculture and farmers’ groups.
Meanwhile, Ramnarine Rupnarine, an Enmore cattle farmer who is the first beneficiary from the exercise, lauded government’s quick and innovative response to their needs with regard to safeguarding their livestock.
Recently, President Bharrat Jagdeo met with farmers of Essequibo where an announcement of an additional $258M was made to support to the Ministry of Agriculture’s efforts to bring relief to farmers affected by El Nino.
Among other interventions, the money will be spent to fund planting materials for cash crops and other farmers and portable water tanks for communities in desperate need. (GINA)