-Dr. Jagdeo

WITH the construction of a tissue culture laboratory, Guyana is expected to grow four million plants annually, meeting both its local and regional demand for food.

This was last week disclosed by the country’s Vice-President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, who, during a news conference where he told reporters that the government is already looking to construct a second laboratory.

“We probably will get another tissue culture lab. We are expanding all of our nurseries. The nursery at Charity is inadequate to service the needs of the people there. In places like the Amerindian communities, they want to expand cultivation,” Dr. Jagdeo said.

To further support farmers, the government, he noted, will be expanding the capacity of existing plant nurseries across the country.

“We will be providing a lot of planting material,” Dr. Jagdeo added.

In a recent invited comment to the Guyana Chronicle, Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, stated that the project will see the country being able to produce high-quality products for the regional and international markets.

He also revealed that the facility will feature a food-safety laboratory.

“This here will take our production level to new heights, where we will produce and comply with international standards. Our produce will be of a better quality to export, and we will be ready for the global market,” Minister Mustapha said.

Tissue culture involves the cultivation of plant cells, tissues, or organs on a specially formulated nutrient medium. Under the right conditions, an entire plant can be regenerated from a single cell.

Plant tissue culture is a technique that has been around for more than 30 years.
In 2023, an agreement to establish a tissue culture facility was signed by the Government of Guyana through the Ministry of Agriculture and The Energy Resource Institute (TERI) of India.

This will see the establishment of a commercial-size tissue culture and micropropagation facility at the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI).

Mustapha had said the project is extremely good for Guyana, as it will support the increased demand for planting materials.

“Over the last three years, we have seen a serious demand for planting materials…What we are producing now is just around 13,000 to 15,000 plantlets. When this lab is completed later on like mid-point 2024, we will be able to produce millions of plantlets for our farmers.”

Additionally, works are in progress to upgrade 11 nurseries across the country, which will result in an increase in seedling production from 200,000 to 500,000.