PLEASE permit us space in your newspaper to express our views on the article printed in Monday’s Stabroek News.

The article stated that some farmers are leaving crops to rot because of low price.

The article said the price of ochroes is $5 per pound in Black Bush Polder. This is not correct, as the price for ochroes is between $45-$50 per pound in Black Bush Polder.

The New Guyana Marketing Corporation (NGMC) has been telling us to grow for the market and that is what we have been doing. The cassava production was high because of the El Nino weather phenomenon, which was favourable for it to bear more.
Since the Ministry of Agriculture launched the Grow More Food campaign in 2008, it has been encouraging us to plant for the market.  Many of us have adjusted the way we used to plant and rather than just plant, we now get information from NGMC on market demands and price trends beforehand, and this is used as guide before we plant.
NGMC has a system with Digicel, where we get latest market prices for commodities. This has helped us to plan our production.
Many farmers have benefited from various kinds of support from this campaign, such as seeds, chemicals, fertilizers and tools. All of which were given free to us. We are also able to access technical training on good agricultural practices so as to develop our skills in growing more crops for the market.
The article stated that no early take off in exporting is seen. This is not so since many exporters are calling us and coming to our farms to purchase crops for export. What we need is more of our farmers to join us and pay attention to the standards that are needed for export.
We have never had any problem contacting NGMC. We know some of the officers personally and we call them at any time, even at nights and weekends, and they respond to us.
Lastly Mr. Editor, we seem to forget that the Grow More Food campaign helped us with the growing of vegetables during the fuel crisis. There was no shortage of food or high prices. We fed the nation.