MINISTER of Agriculture, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, during a recent interview with the state media, advised that the ministry is looking into developing a dairy industry that will include supplying fresh pasteurized milk.

While he noted that for Guyanese, “fresh milk” usually means milk straight from the cow, he explained that by “fresh pasteurized milk”, he means milk that is pasteurized and made available to people immediately.
“That is what we’re hoping to develop, and out of that industry will come the capacity to develop a powder milk industry that is indigenous to Guyana,” he said.
However, the minister related that powder milk, which is imported in bulk, is already being packaged in Guyana by the private sector, and is available at local supermarkets and at the Guyana Shop.
“Presently, we don’t have the milk volume to process into powder milk, so we still have to buy the powder milk in bulk and package it,” he said.
At last year’s World Food Day exhibition at the Ministry of Agriculture, Ramsammy had announced that the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) has been tasked with developing improved breeds of animals for the development of a dairy industry in Guyana.
He said that previous attempts to start such initiatives at Lilliendaal, East Coast Demerara, and Versailles, West Bank Demerara, had failed for several obvious reasons.
“You can’t develop a proper dairy industry with poor bred animals; you cannot produce milk at about a gallon per day and make it an economic venture; and that’s where one of the mistakes was made, that we attempted to put in an industry without addressing a fundamental issue, the improvement of our breeds,” he stated.
The minister had emphasized that developing a dairy industry has always been a national aspiration, but noted that although several attempts were made by national governance and farmers, the venture still has not been successful.
Nevertheless, he said that mechanisms were being put in place to develop a programme to improve breeds, and further, to develop a programme where the insemination, veterinary and animal diagnostic laboratories are fully developed.
In addition, the livestock industry was given a great boost with the commissioning of a genetic laboratory at the GLDA Farm at Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara, last October.
The modern facility serves to improve the quality of animals, hence producing better dairy products. Its activities include testing, preserving and storing of semen from the animals, to be used at later dates to create better breeds.