–Agriculture Minister says

WITH the aim of ramping up food production in 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture will soon begin open-field trials for wheat, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha has said.

In a recent interview with the Guyana Chronicle, Minister Mustapha related that the open-field trial for wheat is scheduled to commence in the first quarter of 2023, at Santa Fe, North Rupununi, Region Nine.

The trial was previously scheduled to begin in September of 2022; however, due to torrential rainfall the trial was delayed.

“The trial was supposed to start this year, but, because of the weather conditions, we couldn’t start it; so in the first quarter of next year we will start the open-field cultivation for wheat.” Mustapha said, adding: “I’m hoping that the weather will be good and we will be able to move ahead with the trial.”

For the open-field trial, Guyana will be partnering with the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA).

Six varieties will be tested during the open-field trial and, once completed and successful, the ministry will move to produce wheat on a larger scale.

Back in May, Guyana received 49 lines of wheat from the Government of Mexico to start a trial phase. The indoor trial, which explored several varieties, was completed at the Burma Rice Station in Mahaicony, Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice).

Addressing the objective of the wheat trials in a previous interview, Minister Mustapha said the aim is to have Guyana become self-sufficient by removing dependence on imports.

He said: “We are very determined! And as long as the trial is successful, we will be going to produce our own wheat because we can’t depend too much on imports… As a country, we have to ensure that we produce our own food and be self-sufficient.”

He acknowledged that the pandemic played a major role in the epiphany.

“We can have all the money in the world and we would have seen during the pandemic how many countries were suffering to get food because there was a scarcity,”
Mustapha said, noting: “And in Guyana, we are very fortunate that we produce most of the food that we consume.”

Prices for wheat had skyrocketed globally due to the Russia-Ukraine war. Russia and Ukraine account for approximately 30 per cent of the world’s traded wheat.

To ease the negative economic impact felt locally, President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, in March, had announced that Guyana is exploring the possibility of sourcing a variety of wheat for local production.

“Soon, we are going to work to see whether we can find a variety of wheat that we can plant in Guyana, so that we can fulfill even our local requirement,” President Ali had said earlier this year.

He added: “We are learning important lessons now that we must not leave unanswered for future generations.”