— some 900 acres of land soon to be opened up for farming
THE Rural Agricultural Infrastructure Development project (RAID) which will open up 900 acres of hitherto unproductive lands at Ithaca, West Bank Berbice, for agricultural purposes has advanced closer to commencement.
Residents recently approved the proposed Drainage and Irrigation (D&I) layout submitted by the design consultants SRKN’ gineering.
A Ministry of Agriculture source said as part of the design consultants deliverables for Ithaca, the company was required to propose a suitable layout for the 900 acres of lands.
Meetings were held on August 8 and 11 at Ithaca Primary School with members of the Ithaca Agriculture Land Development Association (IALDA) and various departments of the Ministry of Agriculture, where SRKN’ gineering presented the proposed D&I layout.
The villagers commented on and approved the layout and with the incorporation of their comments and acceptance of the proposed designs, the consultants last week were finalising the cost estimate and tender documents for the procurement of contractors for the first phase of the project.
Some of the proposed works to be undertaken are land-clearing, construction of secondary drainage and irrigation system (canals, drains, control structures etc), rehabilitation of access dams and establishment of pasture lands and farms plots (2- 15 acre plots).
The source said it was anticipated that the award of contract for the execution of the works will be given by mid-November 2017.
The opening up of unused fertile lands aback Ithaca is being made possible under a loan granted to the Government of Guyana by the CARICOM Development Fund (CDF).
For land-clearing, the Government of Guyana will be buying all the equipment to ensure that this aspect of the project proceeds as planned.
It will purchase a long-boom excavator and a D6 bulldozer to be assigned for land-clearing.
Tractors and other equipment will also be purchased to assist the farmers with land preparation for the various crops they may elect to grow.
The equipment will be kept by the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) and under RAID, the farmers will be able to access them on formal request to the NDIA.
The National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) and the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) will be tasked with offering technical advice to the beneficiaries on what to grow and what to rear.
The Ministry of Agriculture is currently designing a model farm to show the farmers at Ithaca how to achieve optimal levels of production and productivity.
“They will be advised to diversify their crops, so that they can satisfy bulk markets and avoid gluts, because everybody [is] doing the same produce,” the official explained.
The CDF was established under Article 158 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas for the purpose of providing financial or technical assistance to disadvantaged countries, regions and sectors.
It is the centre-piece of the regime to address the disparities among member states of CARICOM which may result from the implementation of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME).
The agreement relating to the Operations of the Fund was signed in July 2008 and the CDF began operating on August 24, 2009.
The CDF recently disclosed that Guyana would be the first member state to benefit from a new Country Assistance Programme (CAP) under its 2015-2020 funding cycle.
Guyana has qualified to receive further support, having paid up its full, assessed contribution to the organisation, a recent media release from the CDF stated.
