GUYANA is on track to develop a successful potato industry and according to Agriculture Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy the need to import this commodity should be eliminated within the next five years.

In a recent interview with the Guyana Chronicle, the minister noted that the importation of commodities such as potatoes, onions, milk and processed foods constitute a large section of Guyana’s food import bill.
He noted that that while Guyana’s food import bill is approximately US $250 per capita, the global average is US $66. However, he said that in the Caribbean region the comparable figures are between US $500 to $1,000 of food imports.
According to him, the Government of Guyana and the Agriculture Ministry’ in particular, is actively pursuing ways in which to reduce this bill.
“I believe that Guyana could use its foreign currency reserve in a better way than to import food that we could either grow here or produce here or that we could do without,” he said.
The minister explained that some of the products usually imported are being identified individually and the Ministry is taking a specific approach to each of them.
He stated that it has already been demonstrated that potatoes can be grown in certain environments in Guyana, noting that it is currently being grown in Regions 7 (Cuyuni/Mazaruni) and 8 (Potaro/Siparuni).
However, he pointed out that the cost of transporting the produce from those areas to the coastland is very high and when that is taken into consideration, it is actually cheaper to buy the imported potatoes rather than those locally produced.
Ramsammy related that the yields of the potatoes produced in Regions 7 and 8 are being examined, adding that if the yield could be increased, the cost of production would be reduced, thereby allowing it to be sold at a cheaper price.
Moreover, he said that the possibilities of growing potatoes on the coastland are also being examined, and disclosed that scientists at the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) have succeeded in growing experimental plots of potato at the institute’s site at Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara.
The minister stated that they are confident that the technique of growing potatoes on the coast has been perfected.
He said that they will now be cultivating potatoes on one-acre plots of land in Regions 2, 3, 4 and 6 and if this is successful Ramsammy said that they will then move to the next step to produce the commodity on a larger scale for commercial purposes, which will contribute to the reduction of the food import bill.
“It will take years before we can eliminate import, but we believe that we can now produce potato that is of comparable quality to the imported potato,” he stated.
He related that while potatoes will be cultivated on land owned by the Ministry, private farmers can also do so with supervision from the Ministry. He further advised that one of the requirements for growing potatoes on the coast is good irrigation, and for this, new techniques such as drip irrigation and shade technology have to be implemented.
“I am optimistic that one of the big import bills for Guyana can be addressed within a short period of time. For potato, within five years time we can eliminate the need to import potatoes. I’m looking for the first commercial plot by the end of this year into early next year,” he said.