DR. OUDHO HOMENAUTH, a soil scientist and former head of the National Agriculture Research and Extension Institute (NAREI), has died.

Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, along with the management and staff of the Ministry of Agriculture and its agencies, on Wednesday, extended heartfelt condolences to his relatives and friends following the confirmation of his death.

“Dr. Homenauth served as Chief Executive Officer of the National Agriculture Research and Extension Institute for over two decades. His contribution to the sector remains invaluable and will never be forgotten,” the ministry said in a statement on its Facebook page.

NAREI in an article which was published on its website on November 6, 2017, said that Homenauth was born and raised in the Corentyne. He was the eldest child of a farmer and village’s “Milk Lady,”

Homenauth was born on November 18, 1956, and like any little boy, he played marbles, cricket and climbed trees. According to NAREI, he was a product of a family whose foundation was rooted in agriculture.

He completed his secondary education at Queen’s College and later attended University of Guyana (UG) from 1975 to 1978 to pursue a degree in Chemistry. He then joined the National Service.

Dr. Homenauth returned to UG in 1978 where he spent two years completing his degree.

From 1980 to 1983 he worked at UG as an instructor in the Faculty of Agriculture. After completing a Masters in Agronomy (soil) at the Mississippi State University in the Unites States of America, he recommenced teaching at UG. After three years, he left for Cornell University, Upstate New York on a scholarship to do his PhD. Upon his return to Guyana in July 1992, he taught at UG until 1999. During those years, he was a senior lecturer and the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry.

In 1999, while on sabbatical leave, Dr. Homenauth applied for an attachment at what was then the National Agriculture Research Institute (NARI). He was familiar with the institute as he was a board member, a responsibility that came with him being the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture.

In providing consultancy services, NARI allowed Dr. Homenauth to identify areas that needed improvement.

In March 2000 he was appointed as the director, and when NAREI (National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute) came into being in May 2000, he was appointed Chief Executive Officer, a position he held until 2020.