GOVERNMENT, through the Ministry of Agriculture, has embarked on the promotion of organic farming within the agriculture sector.
Noting the long-term effects of chemicals on human health, Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, said that he intends to place greater emphasis on organic farming in Guyana.
The minister made these remarks during a meeting with European Union (EU) Ambassador to Guyana, Fernando Ponz Cantó, on Wednesday last.
“We are doing a lot of climate-smart agriculture. You mentioned organic farming. We are practicing this in some areas and within another few years, it should develop because large markets like Europe, when people go to the supermarkets, they check the labels to see if the products are organic. Guyana has the potential to produce organic commodities and I am putting a lot of effort, through the National Agriculture Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) to develop a culture of organic farming within the farming communities. In the past, the culture in our country was to use large amounts of chemicals to get your crop going. I think it’s a work in progress and over time, from a government stand point, we have to ensure we facilitate the sensitisation aspect,” Minister Mustapha said.

Ambassador Canto said that Guyana could become an exporter of organic commodities and take advantage of the growing global demand for healthier choices.
The subject minister also said that government is making the necessary investments to achieve record breaking production levels within the sector.
“Over the last five years we haven’t seen this kind of investment into the sector. Agriculture was placed on the back burner and over the last five months, we’ve seen an increased interest in the agriculture sector. Production is poised to reach record breaking points and I’m optimistic that in another five years we can double our production. This is why government is making the necessary investments to open more lands, improve our technology, put the necessary infrastructure in place and be more proactive with our extension services. This year, I am looking to commence works to open up the second phase of the MMA. There’s about another 100 acres of lands that we can develop. We are also going to be opening up lands on the Corentyne. That is about another 10,000 to 15,000 acres of land. I’m also looking at Region Two. There’s an agriculture scheme there called the Aurora Development Scheme that I’m looking to start work on,” Minister Mustapha said.

AREAS OF CO-OPERATION
Ambassador Fernando Ponz Cantó said that the EU has been working closely with government on a number of projects, specifically the mangrove restoration project.
“We can continue partnering with Guyana on climate change and the fact that the country is below sea level. I’m sure you know that the European Union has done a lot with trying to help with the sea defence and mangroves. We expect that we’ll be able to work with you a lot more on mangroves and these types of protection for your country,” Ambassador Canto said.
Minister Mustapha said that the ministry has been doing a lot to restore the mangrove forests in several regions.
“We’ve been doing a lot of work on the mangrove restoration programme. We have a programme going on in Regions Two, Four and Six to restore those areas. We’ve had a very good success rate. I know these plants are critical in combatting flooding and to enhance our sea defence,” Minister Mustapha said.
He also said that government is closely looking at the effects of climate change. He added that, because of the unpredictability of the weather, in 2020 the ministry had embarked on a lot of shade-house projects, through NAREI, so that farmers’ crops will not be adversely affected by the weather patterns.