– more to be distributed across Guyana

By Cindy Parkinson
HUNDREDS turned out on Tuesday at the Ministry of Agriculture’s Regent Street, Georgetown main office for the seed and seedling distribution drive as part of the activities for Agriculture Month 2022.
Agriculture Month 2022 is held under the theme “Championing Food Security Through Innovation, Investment and Resilience”.

The atmosphere was filled with excitement, and smiles gleaned across faces of adults and children as they attended the distribution activity. The event was well-attended by people from all walks of life trying to get their hands on a plant or two, and some of the seeds that were offered.

Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha told the Guyana Chronicle that the distribution will be done across Guyana. He remains optimistic that the intensification of Guyana’s food security programme is one of the best courses of action for the country, as he noted that many countries faced food and food-item shortages following the COVID-19 pandemic.

This initiative, he continued, also forms part of Guyana’s and the Caribbean’s push to achieve food security and ultimately food import bill. The Government of Guyana’s vision is to reintroduce a kitchen garden in every household throughout Guyana, in urban and rural areas alike.

Minister Mustapha praised the public for turning up to the seed and seedling distribution drive in their large numbers. He acknowledged that it was President, Dr Irfaan Ali, who instructed him and his ministry to ensure that such initiatives are carried out.

He also mentioned that his ministry is not only promoting the traditional crops, but will also push for the uptick in new, high-value crops such as soya, corn, cauliflower, broccoli, etc.
The agriculture minister expressed satisfaction with the number of young people in attendance yesterday as more young people must be involved in agriculture.

“They are young and bright and have shown an interest. It was heartening to see them today in their numbers as they collected plants and seeds. This works out well for us as a country; it is in line with the initiative that was launched by His Excellency the President of Guyana,” he related.

He also told the Guyana Chronicle how elated he was to see the vast turnout of school children at the drive, noting that his ministry had started the initiative of relaunching the gardens in the agriculture departments in schools across the country. Minister Mustapha said his ministry is working closely with the Ministry of Education for this.

Shade houses, seeds and technical support will be provided to schools by the agriculture ministry to boost the interest of students.
“Guyana has to play a leading role in agriculture in order to have a reduction on the food import bill by 25 per cent by the year 2025,” Mustapha emphasised, noting that there has certainly been renewed interest in agriculture among Guyanese.

Also speaking at the event was Jagnarine Singh, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Agriculture Research and Extension Institute (NAREI). Singh echoed the sentiments of the agriculture minister, adding that over 6,000 seedlings (fruits), in excess of 400 coconut plants, and seeds of 15 different varieties of food-bearing plans were distributed. The overall value of the seed distribution was $3 million.

Singh commended government for “leading a very good drive”. He added that NAREI will have an “open day” for the public on October 20 at the Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara (ECD) branch where plants will be distributed free of cost. The NAREI CEO asked recipients to make full use of the seeds and seedlings distributed.

Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle, one of the recipients, Karen James said, “We are excited that the government decided to do this; it will give us a chance to do something at home and it will make us eat better.”
Sarah (the only name given) stated that her and her daughter decided to “start-up” a kitchen garden so that they can grow their own food “which will be healthier for us”.

Donovan (the only name given) said, “I am a bus driver, but I see how the President and his Minister are pushing for us to eat better and do better in our life, so I said that I have to get on board with this thing too… the President’s advice is not bad and he is looking good too.”