– farmers to benefit directly

THE Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) plans to expand its production line over the next few years, Director of the National Agriculture Research and Extension Institute (NAREI), Dr. Odhu Homenauth, said.
This plan will see farmers from across the country benefitting directly by being able to sell their produce and even expand production.
DDL’s intention is to expand production of juices. In doing so, the company will require millions of pounds of fruits on an annual basis for local use and for the export market.
Homenauth, in an interview with the Guyana Chronicle, said the institute has started to work with farmers to ensure they can capitalise on the opportunity when it comes on stream.

He said DDL will be looking for fruits such as passion fruit, cherries and guava, among other things.
Famers have already started to innovate in order to get better yields. Homenauth said farmers have been using inoculum, a bacterium, which when mixed with legumes, produces nitrogen in the soil.
He said the use of inoculum has become a popular practice with bora farmers in Parika Backdam.
“The crop lasts a longer time, the bora you get comes out even… it is important if you are exporting and you have an extended shelf life,” said Homenauth.
According to the director, NAREI has also seen successes with watermelon in the Mahaica area, which is a watermelon producing area.
Prior to having good yields, farmers had to deal with a disease which lasted for two seasons. Dr. Homenauth said the institute was able to implement research projects to counter the disease.

This time around in the area, there were significant increases in production for the export market. Watermelon is exported to Barbados.

“Barbados was telling me that the number of rotten melons decreased,” said Dr Homenauth, adding that there have also been successes in the plantain industry.
Production of plantains has been ongoing, but the operationalisation of the two processing facilities at Parika and Leguan will further drive the industry.
The processing facilities are going to further enhance the development of the plantain industry across the country.

NAREI has also been working with coconut farmers since coconut continues to be a major non-traditional export earner.
“What we have seen is an increase in the demand for coconut water, a lot is going out to Trinidad but with that, there is an increase in demand for planting material,” said Dr. Homenauth.

Together with farmers at the Hope Estate, they were able to supply adequate quantities of planting material to supply the increasing demand.

The institute has also promoted inter-cropping because they want to maximise the returns from coconuts. The coconut tree provides shade for crops such turmeric, passion fruit, plantains and black pepper to grow.