THE age-old ‘battle’ between rice and cattle farmers may soon be over in the area between Number 52-74 Villages as Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha has given approval for the construction of a fence to keep cattle away from the cultivation.
Approximately two weeks ago, the dispute between cattle and rice farmers reached fever pitch, when the Number 52/74 Water Users Association granted permission for the impounding of any cattle found on the dams within the cultivation areas.

This decision sent cattle owners into a rage, as their animals were impounded. An emergency meeting with the two groups of farmers and representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture and regional officials was convened on Thursday, and the farmers agreed that fencing the area where the cattle graze would make the situation better.
They sought approval and funding for the fence from the minister, and he agreed. The issue regarding the impounding of the animals was also deemed illegal.

Meanwhile, at the meeting on Thursday, the minister announced also that an excavator has already been deployed, and the area is being cleared to accommodate the fence.
Further, he noted that the area has some 17,000 acres of land allocated for cattle, which they plan to develop and leave as a communal pasture where every cattle owner will have equal access to the space without any one person having the right to any portion of land.
“There is 17,000 acres of cattle pastures that was surveyed by the Guyana Lands and Survey Commission, and those lands we will develop into pastures. We will leave it as communal pasture; we will not give out individual lands, but we will ask the farmers to use it collectively as a communal pasture. We will try to ensure we develop it properly, and we have already started an occupational survey, which the GLDA is doing to determine how much cattle exist in this area here. And then we will plan further and determine how many more farmers can get benefit from this land,” Minister Mustapha said.

RENEWED INTEREST
He pointed out that within the past five months, there has been renewed interest in agriculture, and noted that several investors have expressed an interest in both cattle and crops, which is why the government is keen to develop all the agriculture sectors.
As such, the construction of the all-weather, farm-to-market road at Number 52 Village is expected to open up some 10,000 acres of new lands. Cabinet on Thursday gave the go-ahead for the design and supervision for the all-weather road, which is estimated to cost $1.7B.
Initial consensus was that the road should be built at Number 52 Village, but the majority of the farmers at the meeting objected to the road being built there, and instead suggested that it be done at Number 58 Village.

As such, the minister decided to have a technical team look at all the options presented before he makes a decision, but his ultimate goal is to see most persons benefit, as well as increased agriculture production.
“What I have decided is that I will send back my technical people to look, because the majority of people feel that the road should be at Number 58. So they will be looking at that area, and I will talk to the President to see what we can do; if we will move it from Number 52 and bring it to Number 58, or continue that one at 52, and then later on build one at 58, so that we will have more lands available,” he said.
Another issue that was addressed was individual allocation of lease to members of the now defunct Lotus Valley Co-op. The Agriculture Minister explained that the members of the ‘Co-op’ had applied for individual leases after the group ceased to function, but their applications were placed on hold by the previous administration. Attorney-General Anil Nandlall has declared that it is acceptable to distribute the land equally among the members of the ‘Co-op’ and the regional administration has been tasked with validating the number of members so that the individual leases can be given to them.