PLANS are moving apace as some 250 acres of land are being prepared in Tacama, Region 10, to cultivate corn and soya bean locally for livestock feed, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha has reported.
The minister, who spoke briefly to the Guyana Chronicle during a telephone interview, disclosed that land preparation, along with some infrastructural works have commenced on the farmlands that have been chosen to cultivate the crops and results can be expected as early as November.
“We are now preparing lands to do a trial crop, we are putting both corn and soya bean, we are doing the design for the road… the government will be expending close to $500 million to do infrastructural work and I’m hoping by June we can start doing the planting and reaping by November,” the minister disclosed.
The initiative, he added, will significantly decrease the country’s reliance on imports and ensure that prices, especially for poultry, remain constant.

“Over the years we have been importing to Guyana corn and soya and it’s almost close to U.S.$30 million; it will help us to save that foreign exchange and help us have regular protein for the poultry industry and not only the poultry industry, but the fishing industry,” he said, adding that “We will be self-sufficient in producing all the proteins for the poultry and fishing industry in Guyana.”
Minister Mustapha further disclosed that he is optimistic that the trial will be successful and the production of corn and soya bean can soon become a massive and lucrative production in Guyana. “I am very, very optimistic that we will start on that trial and that we will be successful where we can go to large-scale productions.”
Meanwhile, six local companies and a regional firm have joined together to undertake the massive project that could see Guyana on the path to becoming self-sufficient in corn and soya bean production over the next few years.

The owners of Guyana Stock Feed Limited, Royal Chicken, Edun Farms, SBM Wood, Dubulay Ranch and Bounty Farm Limited, along with the Brazilian-owned N F Agriculture, have partnered to produce soya bean and corn for both the local and regional markets.
“We have had a number of investors who have indicated their interest of coming into that part of production, so this trial will be very important to us and there are a number of persons who are involved from the private sector; they are like me, very optimistic that we will have a very good trial run and then go into full production,” Minister Mustapha said.
The minister added that the outcome of this project will not only benefit the local market and Guyanese farmers, as the government is expected to tap into regional markets to provide poultry feed for other neighbouring Caribbean states.