–Agriculture Minister says

IN advancing efforts to enhance food security, Guyana will soon begin open-field trials for wheat production in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo).

In a recent invited comment to the Guyana Chronicle, Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, related that the open-field trial for wheat is scheduled to commence in August, at Santa Fe, North Rupununi.

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

“We are looking at a number of varieties and we are working with EMBRAPA [Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation] and that will be decided based on the condition of the area,” Mustapha said.

Once completed and successful, the ministry will move to produce wheat on a larger scale.

Back in May 2022, 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.”

Mustapha acknowledged that the pandemic played a major role in influencing the government to explore this project.

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