DEVELOPMENTAL work on the farm-to- market road that spans from Linden, all the way to the farming community of Kimbia in the Berbice River district, which will make accessible thousands of acres of farmlands in the intermediate savannahs, Region 10, is moving apace.

Regional Executive Officer (REO), Orrin Gordon related that nine miles of the road have been cleared thus far. The entire project will be completed to the tune of $300M and the entire road spans some 45 miles

While there has been some hold up as a result of the inclement weather, Gordon said the pace at which the work is going, should allow for it to be completed within a year, instead of the three years estimated.

“We expect to finish that this year, we had expected to finish in three years but we are so serious about this activity, we expect to finish this year,” he said. Gordon was at the time giving an address at the Women in Agriculture Appreciation Day Exercise.

The farm to market project is part of the agricultural programme for 2019 – a new programme head introduced within the Regional Democratic Council (RDC).

Region 10 is moving towards agricultural self-sufficiency and this project will enable farmers residing in villages such as Sand Hills, Sand Dune, Mirocubi and Kimbia to promote their businesses and market their crops more effectively, so as to meet the demands of the residents of Region 10, particularly those residing in Linden.

It has been noted over the years that 70 per cent of Linden’s food consumption comes from farmers and vendors mainly in Regions Two, Three and Five. Most of the food in Region 10 is produced in the savannahs where there are class one and two type soils. There has been, however, a serious challenge with farmers accessing markets because of the virtually impassable farm-to-market road.

Currently, about 100 farmers residing in these villages are producing among other crops, red peas, corn, soya beans and citrus fruits on a large scale.
Cattle rearing is also a dominant feature in the region and the road will positively impact dairy production.

“It will significantly assist about 100 farmers with ingress and egress, because right now they are having problems; and it will also open lead way to other villages such as Mirocubi in the Mahaicony River,” Gordon said

Since the introduction of the agriculture project, Gordon related the RDC has made a lot of strides, not only in Linden but across Region 10.

Production in both crops and livestock has increased, which is in keeping with the trajectory that the region achieves food security status by 2025. In addition to the road, works are progressing in schools where agricultural production has been reintroduced with the use of shade houses.

He said to tackle food security, the youths must be the target; hence, pilot schools were chosen to initiate the project. Gordon related that 10 shade houses will be distributed to members of the communities. A total of $22.7M has been allocated from the 2019 budgetary allocations for agriculture.