THE Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc. (GuySuCo) hereby informs members of the public that the Report on the Feasibility Study for Aquaculture – as a diversification venture for GuySuCo – has significant potential.
The study was undertaken by AquaSol Corporation Inc., a company that is based in Florida, United States of America, GuySuCo said in a statement. The areas examined in the study included: an evaluation of the physical characteristics of the proposed geographic location soil properties; – water resources and quality. Included also, were the infrastructure – and the requirements for managing a commercial aquaculture project. The consultants gave the rationale for selecting particular species in this case tilapia; along with a detailed operational plan that includes Farm Design and Operations. The report addressed prospective Markets; Processing and Packaging; Financial Projections, among others.
The report indicates that there are numerous competitive advantages for Aquaculture as a key diversification venture and as a business opportunity for GuySuCo in the short, medium and long term. The main products considered in the report were: Tilapia and Shrimp. However, the study concluded that Tilapia was more suited to the Wales Estate project site than shrimp that required a relatively saline environment. The study highlighted that Guyana’s climatic conditions and soil types are ideal to support high growth rates for Tilapia throughout the year.
On the operational side, the study proposes that the capacity of the Corporation will have to be built from an organisational perspective – systems and retraining of employees – as well as recruiting appropriate skills and expertise for technical and operational management. Market opportunities for this venture are – to a small extent – local and regional. However, the main targeted markets would be in the United States. Brazil also appears to be market of unexplored potential.