– Minister Ramsammy tells Economic Services Committee

MINISTER of Agriculture Dr. Leslie Ramsammy and heads of agencies that fall under the purview of his ministry yesterday appeared before the Parliamentary Economic Services Committee, to update its members on developments within and plans for the sector.Dr Ramsammy, in his preamble, explained that his ministry is a very decentralised one, which operates with a number of semi-autonomous agencies. The role of the Ministry of Agriculture is merely to regulate, monitor and evaluate the functioning of these agencies all of which have independent, functioning boards, as well as their own budgets.
Agriculture makes a 23 percent contribution to the national economy and accounts for 33 percent of direct employment.
Minister Ramsammy said that notwithstanding the emergence of growing ICT and mining sectors and the possibility of finding oil, agriculture is likely to remain one of the main pillars of the economy.

STRATEGIC PLAN
The Agriculture Ministry is currently pursuing the comprehensive strategic plan 2013-2020 which outlines 25 priority areas which will be focused on in order to accelerate agricultural development on which Guyana is largely dependent.
“The strategy we are pursuing at the moment takes into consideration the fact that the Caribbean region imports US$5.2B of food, and we believe that much of this can be supplied by Guyana…our strategy is geared towards increasing exports and taking advantage of the fact that the Caribbean is importing so much food and also at the same time addressing some of our own food imports by import substitution,” the Minister informed.
Some of these priority areas include: stabilising sugar production to 450,000 tonnes by 2020, increase rice production by six tonnes per hectare (at present it is 5.4 tonnes per hectare), 50 percent reduction in imports of carrots, garlic, cauliflower, broccoli, turmeric, ginger, black pepper and commercial production of potato; 25 percent increase in non-sugar, non-rice export of agriculture; 50 percent increase in agro-processed production; a formalised dairy industry and 50,000 litres of bio-fuel to be produced on a commercial scale.

INCREASING EXPORTS
The over-arching goal of the strategy is to ensure Guyana’s food and nutrition security status is consolidated and prioritised, while at the same time reducing food imports such as corn, soya, potato, garlic, onion and spices. At present, all of these crops are being grown on either test plots or in farmers’ plots.
The Ministry of Agriculture is also looking to increase the exportation of rice and sugar (both in terms of bulk and value-added agricultural commodities) and non-traditional crop products. Moreover, it is hoping to meet the local demand for dairy products through increased production.
Minister Ramsammy also noted that over US$25M worth of milk is being imported into Guyana.
In terms of meat, he said the Agriculture Ministry is working towards reaching export level production of beef and small-ruminant meats; while at the same time meeting the local demands. Agro-processing is another area in which the Ministry of Agriculture has increased production and attracted a wider export market.
“Whilst food and nutrition security remain a priority, we want to expand agriculture in non-agriculture areas, and therefore our present approach is called the F5 approach,” Minister Ramsammy said.

‘F5’ APPROACH
With the aim of achieving a minimum of five percent growth annually in the agriculture sector over the next seven years, the Ministry of Agriculture has mapped out a five-component plan, which it is working aggressively to achieve.
Minister Ramsammy said that in Guyana, the agriculture sector has always been designed to ensure the food and nutrition needs of citizens are satisfied. However, he said the time has come for the sector to expand its horizons.
The first of the F5 approach is designed to ensure that citizens have enough food; the second (F2) will ensure that the food produced is safe and can meet the nutrition requirements (basically addressing health and well-being) of the nation; the third will see the sector taking advantage of agriculture for purpose of energy generation (the ministry wants to develop a formalised energy sector within the agriculture sector); the fourth will see agriculture playing a key role in fashion, cosmetics and medicine production; and the fifth will deal with furniture and craft using agriculture

“This sets the basis for the broader agriculture sector rather than focusing on just food and nutrition…for most countries to get into the other areas, they have to sacrifice food and nutrition security, Guyana does not have to do that,” Dr Ramsammy said.

GLDA
With regards to the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA), Minister Ramsammy said that while Guyana could satisfy the local needs for chicken, pork, beef and eggs, the real benefit of livestock is in the export markets.
However, Guyana’s capacity to produce cheaper soya bean concentration is deeply linked with its meat export drive, since soya represents a universal protein source for animal feeds. In order to meet export level production, the ministry is developing improved pastures and an international quality abattoir, as well as improving cattle breeds through artificial insemination and embryo transfer.
Responding to questions posed by APNU Member of Parliament, Joseph Harmon, Chief Executive Officer of the GLDA, Dr. Dindyal Permaul informed that over 75 embryos have been implanted which has resulted in the birth of 24 calves; this year alone 50 embryos were implanted.
Dindyal noted that this project has had a success rate of over 50 percent thus far.

AQUA-CULTURE
Minister Ramsammy said that efforts must be intensified to ensure that fishing is done in a more controlled manner to prevent over-fishing. Moreover, there is need to ensure that certain types of fishing methods are restricted.
Aquaculture is an important part of the agriculture sector and in this regard, the Fisheries Department is promoting the production of commercial species such as tambaqui and tilapia. Meanwhile, it is also looking at revisiting the Arapaima Management Plan, particularly for the hinterland regions and promoting sport-fishing.

GMC
The Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) provides marketing and business development services to stakeholders (farmers, exporters, agro-processors and other agri-business investors) in the non-traditional agriculture sector.
The agency reaches out to its stakeholders through a market information center, packaging facilities and the Guyana Shop. The latter had 70 new items in 2013 with a total of 650 items.

HYDROMET
The Guyana Hydrometeorological Office provides weather information for aviation purposes (both at the Cheddi Jagan International, Ogle and other airstrips) and short, medium and long-term weather forecasts for farmers and Guyanese in general.
There are currently 14 automatic weather stations, seven meteorological observatories/synoptic stations, 60 water level station and 148 rainfall stations.

PESTICIDE CONTROL BOARD
Currently there are 15 importers of chemicals, licenced by the Pesticides and Toxic Chemicals Control Board (PTCCB). Additionally, there are 168 licenced vendors, and 270 registered pesticides with 101 active ingredients.
Guyana is currently phasing out three pesticides and 11 toxic chemicals under the Stockholm Convention to which it is a signatory.

NDIA
The National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) has undertaken a portfolio of infrastructural development projects which it will be executing between 2013 and 2020. These projects would serve as the main support service for a sustainable and expanding agriculture sector.

A total of 28 packages comprising 570 projects have been developed from consultations with stakeholders. Some of the major projects include: the East Demerara Water Conservancy’s (EDWC) Northern Relief Channel, Black Bush Polder drainage outlet at Bengal, Canals Polder drainage outlet at Patentia, development of 5,500 acres land at Aurora, and resuscitation of the Cunha Canal.
Additionally, there is also the construction of a number of pump stations in Regions Two, Three, Five and Six.

(GINA)