IN a bid to achieve Guyana and the Caribbean region’s food-security goals of cutting the region’s food-import bill by 25 per cent by 2025, the production of corn and soya is rapidly expanding.
This was according to President Dr Irfaan Ali in a post on his official Facebook page, on Sunday.

The President, in his short post, emphasised that failure is not an option in achieving this goal.
“The production of soya and corn is expanding as we work towards self-sufficiency by 2025 and regional production by the end of 2026,” Dr Ali said.
The Head of State indicated that determination, commitment and drive are the winning ingredients in the push towards achieving this goal.

In 2023, Guyana sowed some 10,000 acres of corn and soya beans, bringing the country much closer to being a self-sufficient producer.
This year, it is projected that some 26,000 acres of grains could be brought into production, while the aim is to bring into production 30,000 acres by the end of 2025.

Earlier this month, Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha had said that the country is going into large-scale production of corn and soya with hopes of cultivating 25,000 acres of same by the end of next year.
The government has invested significantly in this area, as over $1.4 billion was spent to develop the infrastructure to meet the production and cultivation goals.

Over $967 million has been budgeted for 2024 as part of the development of infrastructure in the Tacama area, where corn and soya are being produced. Additionally, while a 12,000-tonne silo was built, this is expected to be extended to 18,000 tonnes to be able to process more.

Meanwhile, Mustapha has also highlighted that Guyana stands to save close to US$60 million annually if corn and soya beans are grown twice per year. This, he said, will allow the country to produce all the livestock feed and at the same time be a “net exporter.”