-as Guyana eyes self-sufficiency, regional market

GUYANA will soon cultivate over 400 acres of black- eye peas and red beans as the country looks to meet both the local and regional demands.

This was recently disclosed by President D. Irfaan Ali who noted that the massive food production project will see an investment of close to US$ 3 million.

According to the Head of State, the government was also looking to construct two silos, each with a capacity of 1,500 metric tonnes.

“We should be self-sufficient in these two commodities, and, by the end of 2026, we will be in a position to fulfill the regional market for black-eye peas and red beans,” President Ali said.

Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, in a recent interview with this newspaper, disclosed that once the country up-scales its production, Guyana will be able to begin exporting to Caribbean countries.

“In the Kimbia area, we have started with a local investor there, two investors as a matter of fact to start the production of black-eye peas; Guyana will produce all of it in terms of black-eye beans and red beans and also to export to the Caribbean.”

Guyana is currently the lead stakeholder for agriculture in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

President Ali is the lead head of government with responsibility for agriculture and agricultural development, while the country’s Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, chairs the Ministerial Taskforce on Food Production and Food Security.

In August, the Head of State led a technical team to several communities along the Berbice River where assessments were done for the large-scale production of red beans and black-eye peas.

At that time, communities such as Tacama, Kimbia, Mara and Moleson Creek were visited as the aim was to bring several acres of land into cultivation before the end of 2023.

“We can produce all the needs for the Caribbean [and so] we are looking to start some cultivation. First of all, we’ll look at the areas in Region One. We are looking to build facilities in Region One as long as the soil type is good there and, hopefully, we can start large-scale production of black-eye peas, coming out of Region One,” Minister Mustapha said recently.

Meanwhile, during a recent visit to the community of Baracara in Region Six, the president had announced plans to assist farmers there in cultivating 400 acres of red beans and black-eye peas.

“We are going to put the tractor and plough to work, but I am not going to accept anything below 400 acres of land in red beans. So, we’re going to put the land to work, we’re going to put the machinery, we are going to put the labour,” he told farmers there.