THE Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Mahaica/Mahaicony/Abary Agriculture Development Authority (MMA/ADA), Dr. Ken Sealey, has noted that the agency would soon have to increase the land rates paid by farmers if it is to provide the quality of services required.Addressing farmers at the MMA/ADA Open Day and Exhibition held at Onverwagt, West Coast Berbice on Friday last in observance of Agriculture Month, Dr. Sealey, in making the disclosure, did not elaborate on how much the rates would be increased by, but said the increase does appear inevitable, given the current circumstances of the organization in relation to its ability to carry out its mandate.

The Ministry of Agriculture disclosed last August that the MMA/ADA rates had remained unchanged for years, and had been outstripped by inflation. Agriculture Minister Noel Holder described the rates being paid by rice farmers for the services provided by the agricultural scheme as archaic, and said they should be adjusted upwards if the scheme is to be expanded.

“There has been no attempt to keep the rates of land rent and the cost of drainage and irrigation, or the pay for the cost of drainage and irrigation, in line with inflation. The result of that is: where MMA used to be a source of income to the Government, it is now taking money out of the Government to survive — $237M out of the budget for this year. We have to look at raising rates to the proper levels,” the Minister had told the Government Information Agency.

The Open Day mentioned above featured displays of agricultural products and related inputs by several agencies operating within Region Five. The exhibitors included the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo); the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA); the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB); the Guyana Livestock Development Agency (GLDA); and the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI). Those who participated in this event were given fruit plants free of charge for cultivation in their farms or kitchen gardens. The Authority also distributed 73 fifty-year leases for land in Region Five to farmers, including 90–year-old Alice Elfrida Solomon of Cottage, Mahaicony, ECD.