Dear Editor,
I’VE taken note of a letter written by Mr. Tony Vieira addressing several areas that fall under the purview of the Ministry of Agriculture. This letter is not only misleading and baseless, but it is also riddled with inaccuracies, and as such, it would be remiss of me not to address it.

Contrary to what the writer is attempting to insinuate, all the irrigation needs are being satisfied along the East Coast and on the East Bank of Demerara. As it relates to claims that the water resources in the EDWC are almost empty, I can confirm that there is sufficient water in the conservancy to support farming and other agriculture-related activities along the East Coast of Demerara.

In fact, the NDIA has been quite proactive in their efforts to ensure these resources are not depleted, and has been pumping water into the conservancy for the last four months. The Authority also has a rigorous monitoring and maintenance system in place to ensure critical water resources are not being wasted, especially during the ongoing dry season that Guyana and many other countries in the region are experiencing.

The NDIA collaborates with the various NDCs in these areas to ensure rangers are in place to monitor inlets leading to villages along the ECD corridor are being monitored and maintained. Additionally, the NDIA continues to replenish the water level, and has been doing so for the past four months by pumping from Maduni Creek into the conservancy, using mobile hydro-flow pumps.

It doesn’t stop there. Apart from the NDIA’s current work programme, emergency rehabilitation work was also conducted on a portion of the Lamaha Seepage Channel at Barnwell North Farming Area in Mocha, while additional modifications to improve the irrigation system were also done, which involved the installation of high-density polyethylene tubes and a gate.

Tubes were also installed between Lamaha to the Central Navigation Canal in Mocha. Furthermore, it was also confirmed that for the 2023 – 2024 period, the NDIA has installed several mobile and tractor pumps to assist with improving irrigation in affected farming areas.

An aqueduct was also constructed at Cane Grove and an all-weather road will be constructed at Buxton/Middle Walk. These interventions will benefit hundreds of farmers along the East Coast and East Bank of Demerara.
Also, fresh water is being supplied to the shelter belt water treatment plant continuously. To supplement these efforts, the NDIA will also be procuring several 40 Cusec mobile pumps that will be installed in several villages including Mocha on the East Bank of Demerara.

As it relates to the current management of the NDIA, all of the senior technical officers within this agency are seasoned and well-educated engineers with years of experience and have been working to develop Guyana’s D&I capabilities for many years. They are familiar with the country’s D&I landscape and are more than capable of managing the authority even as the country’s D&I needs continue to evolve.

The writer also spoke about rice. I wish to remind the writer that the nation has one of the best track records in the region in developing and releasing high-yielding rice varieties that are well adapted to local conditions and ideally suited for the international market.

Over the years, GRDB has developed 15 high-yielding rice varieties that have responded well to the changing environmental conditions in which rice is being grown. The recently released “GRDB 16” has gained widespread acceptance countrywide, and has yielded more than nine tonnes/hectares in many farmer fields during the current harvest. Productivity has moved from 2.8 tonnes/ hectare in 1992 to a current high of 6.5 tonnes/hectare.

Last year, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Agriculture along with the Head of the IICA Delegation in Guyana launched the GRDB-IICA 17; a zinc-enriched variety that is also the first of its kind for the region. This variety is also high-yielding with immunity-boosting properties promising to attract preferential prices for local farmers.

These achievements are as a result of responsible and policy-directed investments made by the government to improve the country’s productive capacity and resilience to the harsh impacts of climate change.
As it relates to paddy bugs, indeed there were instances where infestation was observed to be above the threshold levels during the first crop of 2024. However, this was mainly attributed to the prolonged dry weather conditions.

Rice farmers in the most affected areas have confirmed that prompt actions taken by the GRDB have kept damages to the crop to a minimum. The writer failed to mention that crop extension officers carried out daily monitoring of farmers’ fields for incidences of paddy bugs and that the GRDB assisted farmers with the application of pesticides through aerial spraying and drones. Long-term measures are also being developed to manage paddy bugs with the introduction of a biocontrol programme which is being directed by the GRDB.

To say that the Ministry of Agriculture is dysfunctional exposes the writer’s motives to directly attack the credible and impeccable work done to restore this sector over the past three years. So much has been and is being done for farmers, and yet the writer chooses to speak on water levels when the entire country and many other parts of the Caribbean Region have been experiencing drought-like conditions for several months.

Why not speak about the interventions being made to boost the country’s D&I infrastructure to combat climate change? Why not speak on the interventions being made to equip farmers, many of whom gave up on agriculture during the reigns of the previous government because of the harsh measures that were imposed, with climate-smart agricultural inputs such as shade houses and technical support?

Why not speak on Guyana’s successes at introducing new crops such as corn, soya bean, high-value crops like broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots, and trials to commence production of onions? What about the investments to resuscitate the spice industry in Region One or the work being done to increase production in Baracara, Victoria, Canal Polder, and other areas that were known for their agricultural produce? What about the progress being made with the construction of the Hope-like Canal in Regions Three, Five, and Six? Why not point out these major achievements?

Let us call a spade a spade. The writer has little credibility and his writings seem to be coming from a place of resentment from internal issues he may or may not be having with the PPP/C, which is often the case with some of these individuals.

Lest we forget, Mr. Vieira was employed as a technical director at the ministry for three years and made no meaningful contributions to the sector. His contract ended last February and he is now preoccupied with trying to discredit the work being done by officers charged with managing various aspects of the sector. I invite Mr. Vieira to comment on his contribution to the sector for the three years he was employed at the ministry.

While he may boast of his expertise in managing sugar estates that were owned by his family, it should be noted that the only success he had with those operations was running them into the ground due to his lack of investment, strategic planning, and poor management. While serving on the Board of Directors at GuySuCo under the previous administration, his input to the sector’s development was convincing the corporation’s management to cultivate grass at the Wales estate.

I will continue to defend the commendable efforts made by those in charge of guiding the agriculture sector. I am seeing progress and I know with the current work ethic being displayed by those managing the sector, progress will continue.
Yours sincerely,
Ron McKenzie