WHILE sugar and rice have dominated discussions on agriculture during the Budget 2014 debate, agriculture in Guyana is more than those two crops. Minister of Agriculture Dr. Leslie Ramsammy highlighted some of the efforts that will be taken in 2014 to organise and strengthen the country’s non-sugar, non-rice agriculture. 

Ongoing is one major activity to formalise the production of those other crops, so that they function in an architecture which is similar to the formal organisation of the rice and sugar industry.

Minister Ramsammy said his ministry will be looking at the issue of having true production information for cash crops.
Already the Ministry of Agriculture has made significant progress in the elimination of the importation of cauliflower and broccoli. In 2014, it will continue this campaign to popularise the cultivation of crops such as carrots and certain spices: beet, turmeric, ginger, black pepper and cilantro.
Also included is the ministry’s ongoing effort with regard corn and soya. Significant quantities of these two crops are imported on an annual basis and the Ministry, in targeting the reduced imports of these by half by 2020, initiated work in 2013 in acquiring and testing higher yielding varieties of corn and soybean which are adaptive to local conditions.
These have been proving successful and Minister Ramsammy said the ministry will be working with the private sector this year to establish commercial size plots for the stock feed industry.

COCONUT INDUSTRY
Coconut is also a priority industry in 2014, Minister Ramsammy said, and there are several major initiatives to expand the industry and to ensure major new investments in value-added coconut products.
He said that in a few weeks, a major coconut forum will be convened in Guyana. The ministry will roll out two major multiple-countries’ coconut projects and a number of local investments in value-added coconut products.

DAIRY INVESTMENT
Minister Ramsammy said that in 2014 the investment in the livestock industry will continue with the formalisation of a dairy industry. He said the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) will establish a dairy herd farm at Mon Repos by the end of 2014, with imported nucleus milk breed.
In addition, talks have begun with the Canadians to establish a public-private partnership for a milk processing plant with the aim of increasing milk production and reducing  milk imports, Minister Ramsammy said.

TECHNICAL SUPPORT
Towards providing technical support to the industry, the Agriculture Minister noted that the ministry has embarked on the formal establishment of a Germplasm Bank.
The ministry will start with the germplasm storage of cassava, sweet potato and black-sigatoka-resistant plantain. He said that in 2014, the ministry expects to produce over 10,000 black sigatoka resistant plantain plantlets.
Also to come onboard in 2014 is the bio-control laboratory for the rearing of natural enemies to manage pest and diseases, and the US$2.5M Veterinary Laboratory. The Artificial Insemination (AI) Laboratory will also be further upgraded in 2014, Minister Ramsammy said.
He said too that the GuySuCo’s soil laboratory will be upgraded to a National Soil Laboratory, with the aim of enabling farmers to use scientific information to choose fertilisers and pesticides, and to formulate more effective chemical blending to support production and yield.

DRAINAGE AND IRRIGATION
Drainage and Irrigation (D&I) remains a critical aspect of agriculture, which has continued to see much support from government.
Minister Ramsammy explained that D&I interventions in 2014 will include work on the second phase of the Conservancy Adaptation Programme (CAP.) He said that in this second phase, the ministry is proposing the construction of pumping stations at Hope/Enmore, Enterprise/Paradise, Annandale/Buxton, Lusignan, Mon Repos, Ogle and Liliendaal, and as well continued infrastructure works towards the structural integrity of the EDWC embankment.
There will also be work on the Cunha Canal reconstruction, which will also directly benefit approximately 4,500 acres of farmlands at Sarah Johanna, Pearl, Badrima and Coverden, and the lower reaches of Kuru Kururu.
The minister said that there will be interventions that will see, for the first time, pump stations being placed at Gangaram and Pine Ground. There will also be work on the MMA Stage II which entails mainly the establishment of a Conservancy between the Abary River and Mahaica River through damming of the Mahaicony River, Minister Ramsammy said.
He said this will open up an additional 200,000 acres of land in the Mahaicony and Mahaica blocks.

(GINA)