RESIDENTS at Long Creek and Kairuni, Region Ten (Upper Demerara/ Berbice on Saturday welcomed a visit by Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud who told them that the communities along the Linden Soesdyke Highway are well positioned for investment and have a geographic advantage, in the context of advancing agriculture.
Persaud urged the community members to be organised and think about opportunities in non-traditional areas.
Part of the two community meetings too were other technical staff from the Agriculture Ministry, a representative from the Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) and other stakeholders.
The minister alluded to the Agriculture Export Diversification Programme (ADP) and noted that his Ministry is looking to bring communities like Long Creek and Kairuni on board the programme.
“We will give technical assistance and even deploy machinery, but we want your support,” he said.
The Guyana government is pushing ahead with plans to diversify its agricultural exports with multi-million dollar support from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Guyana’s ADP is being funded by the IDB to the tune of US$21.9 million with another US$1.1 million coming from government in counterpart funding. The programme targets an increase in the export of non-traditional agricultural commodities and it seeks to establish services and institutions for a sustainable increase in the income derived from the export of non-traditional agricultural exports in the aquaculture, fruits and vegetables, and livestock sub-sectors such as beef, peppers, pumpkins, plantains and farm grown fish, particularly tilapia.
The Agriculture Minister said, “We need you to be serious farmers…you have to move beyond the stage of subsistence farming.”
In this context, he advised farmers to be conscious of markets, be innovative and pay keen attention to organizing themselves, since there is more strength in numbers.
“Individually you will be taken advantage of…a cluster approach to marketing is better…you have to operate in a business way,” Persaud said.
The minister urged community collaboration and exhorted that an entrepreneurial spirit needs to be adopted and explained that at the government level the communities will be provided with support, training and efforts can also be made to engage the relevant markets.
However, he maintained that the communities have to do their part to organise and advance development of the communities.
“Think about the future and see the opportunities,” Persaud said, “The role of the government is to tell you what opportunities are available and support you…you have to do the rest.”
The Agriculture Minister stressed that with the completion of the road connecting Guyana to Brazil, the Linden/ Soesdyke communities will be on the frontline of increased economic activity.
Brazil is the number one global producer of five key products, including coffee and orange juice. It is also the number two producer of soya beans and kidney beans and the number three producer of corn and the number four producer of cocoa. It is the second largest producer of beef and has the second largest herd in the world as well. Brazil produces more than 32 percent of the world’s global production of oranges and is the top exporter of concentrated juice, of which it produces 90 percent. Brazil is also the leader in Ethanol production.
The Guyana/Brazil road is expected to provide both countries with more opportunities to generate economic activity and create domestic wealth.
“You have to position yourself…we are looking to see how we can diversify,” Persaud urged.
The Agriculture Minister added that with the increased focus on developing the agriculture sector the government is committed to providing support to small communities, in particular.
The community members were keen on what the Minister had to say and they were appreciative of the opportunity to be able to raise their concerns with him.
Persaud addressed these and said, “We have to develop a culture of less talk and more work.”

Concerns

A major concern raised by the residents was the issue of leases for land and the less than expeditious manner in which the Lands and Survey Commission is addressing their concerns.
Persaud promised to facilitate a meeting between residents and the Lands and Survey Commissioner, but explained that the Commission is currently in the process of “cleaning up” a corrupt system left by officers, now dismissed, and even community members who engaged in corrupt activities.
Persaud said the residents having difficulties now are “caught in a web” created by corrupt practices.
The Agriculture Minister added too that compounding the issue is the fact that there is also a shortage of surveyors.
He noted that with the expansion of the agriculture sector, the opening up of more lands for agricultural activities, more officers are needed.
To contribute to the resolution of this problem, Persaud pointed out that 50 surveyors are being trained through the ADP, so that agricultural development can progress.
“The capacity of the Lands and Surveys Commission is limited and we are trying to address this so that matters can be dealt with expeditiously,” he said.
Going through the process with state surveyors residents are required to pay a fee of only $12,000, a small sum in comparison to having private surveyors engaged at a cost of as much as $250,000.
“There is no short cut to dealing with this, the surveys have to be done,” Persaud said, maintaining that there is a process to be respected.
Another concern of the residents was pest control, in particular control of the acushi ants which, according to residents, “eat through the crops.”
The Agriculture Minister promised to have chemicals and spray cans provided to the residents.
He indicated that this particular problem may need to be addressed through continuous pest control.
The clearing of the Kairuni Creek was a major concern for the residents in that community, since many depend on a smooth flow of water along the creek.
Persaud pledged some $2M to facilitate the acquisition of tools and the residents agreed that they would provide manual labour to complete the task.
“I do not want empty commitments…you have to help us help you,” the Minister said.
He observed that development is a collaborative process undertaken by communities and noted that historically this is how tasks were completed.
The responsibility of clearing the creek comes under the purview of the Regional Administration, but the Agriculture Minister said in recognition of “neglect” his Ministry is willing to support the community.
The Black Sigatoka disease was another problem for farmers in the communities and they were promised assistance in the form of chemicals.
However, Persaud said the famers must be aware of practise to address issues like these, be it improved crop sanitation or crop rotation.
The need to protect the forests was also emphasized, as Minister addressed the common activity of charcoal production.
Residents made requests for additional leased land, but Persaud made it clear that the law needs to be respected and any such activity needs to be done in an organised way to av
oid breech of the law.“The things people got away with in the past will not happen now,” he said.
Others issues addressed included advancement of agricultural activity into new areas, such as corn production; the problem of outsiders hunting in the communities and disturbing the peace, as well as over hunt; the need for plants to boost farming activities in the community; and the issue of transportation needs for school children.
Since the latter is not an issue that falls under the purview of the Agriculture Ministry, he promised to raise it with the Ministries of Education and Local Government.
Persaud, encouraged the residents to pool resources to address the issue of transportation and reiterated the call for community collaboration.
The Agriculture Ministry also provided farming implements and other supplies to the communities, including cutlasses and files, as well as plant seeds among other items.