–with greater emphasis on cultivation of high-value crops, corn, soya bean and wheat, Agriculture Minister says
ADVANCEMENT in the agriculture sector is imminent, as much emphasis is being placed on reducing Guyana’s and the Caribbean’s food-import bill by 25 per cent by 2025, through the increased production of high-valued crops to meet its market demands, among other things.

In a recent interview with the Guyana Chronicle, Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, said that the country, in the last year, spent, $2.6 billon on the importation of high-valued crops, such as broccoli, cauliflower and carrots.

It is for this reason that the government intends to continue the diversification of the agriculture sector next year.

Minister Mustapha said that while agriculture is one of the main sectors that will help to diversify the country’s economy, much more work has to be done in the sector.

He related that the goal is to first become self-sufficient, which will see Guyana producing enough food locally to satisfy the demands of people.

“Two weeks ago I signed a contract with an Israeli company for shade houses and hydroponics… I think what is happening in the country and with the investment coming on stream, we can become self-sufficient,” Mustapha said.

Earlier this year, President Dr. Irfaan Ali, had launched the Agriculture and Innovation Entrepreneurship Programme, a project aimed at tapping into the benefits of the production of broccoli, cauliflower and carrots.

A total of 54 shade houses were developed under the project.

Mustapha said that the recent agreement between the Israeli company will see the President’s programme being expanded even further.

The US$15.7 million project will include the construction of a hydroponic growing system in Guyana and will be integrated into the ongoing shade house project along the East Coast of Demerara.

“In the hospitality industry and the oil and gas industry, these products are in high demand. We can be self-sufficient in those areas and that is where we are looking to reduce the food-import bill,” Minister Mustapha said.

He related too that Guyana will also increase its production of corn, soya bean and wheat.

“At the end of 2023, we might see close to 5,000 acres of corn cultivation, because we are hoping, in the next three years, we can take that up to 25,000,” Mustapha said.

Early this year, works on three, 3000-tonne silos and one 80-tonne-per-hour drying tower at Tacama Landing, along the Berbice River, had begun, so as to increase the production of corn and soya bean in that area.

Further, in the first quarter of the new year, construction of the foundation and installation of a corn and soya bean processing plant will commence at the Tacama Landing.

That processing plant will provide a drying and storage facility for the corn and soya farmers in the Tacama area.

In 2021, six local companies and a regional firm joined together to undertake a massive project that could see Guyana becoming self-sufficient in corn and soya bean over the next few years.

The owners of Guyana Stockfeeds Incorporated, Royal Chicken, Edun Farms, SBM wood, Dubulay Ranch, and Bounty farm ltd., along with the Brazilian-owned, N F agriculture, have partnered to produce soya bean and corn for both the local and regional markets.