-youths will receive training to foster interest in agripreneurship

Story and photos by Indrawattie Natram

YOUTHS from communities across Region Two have been trained in shade house farming, an initiative directly supported by Guyana’s Vice-President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo.

During a two-day outreach to the Pomeroon-Supenaam region, many young people expressed a desire for training in various fields to help them become entrepreneurs.

On Monday, many of them were exposed to shade house farming techniques, a key component of the One Guyana Agriculture Inc. Programme, which promotes the Agriculture and Innovation Entrepreneurship Programme (AIEP), led by CEO Teesha Mangra-Singh.

This initiative aligns with President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali’s vision for Guyana to play a critical role in reducing the region’s food imports by 25 per cent by 2025.

It aims to mitigate the impacts of climate change on crop production while encouraging young people to become agriculture entrepreneurs.

Mangra-Singh during her address at the opening ceremony for the one-day training exercise, emphasised the importance of nursery training which is crucial for enabling shade houses to produce their own seedlings.

The nursery training was conducted by Leilawattie Persaud, Head of Horticulture at the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI).

Mangra-Singh told the participants that the Ali-led administration has fulfilled its promise to inspire youth to pursue careers in agriculture through the AIEP, which employs climate-smart technology to ensure year-round production.

“This initiative ties into the Vision 25 by 25, which aims to increase domestic food production by 25 per cent by 2025. We are educating youth in every aspect of climate-smart agriculture to boost domestic production,” she related to the participants who were gathered in the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) boardroom at Anna Regina on the Essequibo Coast.

Currently, 54 shade houses are serving as model plots, encouraging both farmers and youths to get involved. The programme also assists farmers by providing shade house plastic and nets to help them start their own operations, contributing to the country’s food security efforts.

The benefits of shade house farming include an extended growing season, improved planting quality, efficient resource management, climate adaptability, temperature control, pest and disease management, water efficiency, and economic gains.

Meanwhile, Vice-Chairman Humace Oodit announced that six shade houses will be established in Queenstown, Spring Garden, Hampton Court, Charity and at the New Opportunity Corps and the Guyana School of Agriculture’s Region Two location.

According to him, these shade houses will be used to cultivate high-value crops.

He used the occasion to assure the participants and others who were present that materials would be provided for the construction of shade houses in the respective communities. He also emphasised the timeliness and importance of the training.

Director of the GSA and Mayor of Anna Regina, Devin Mohan, noted that a series of training sessions have been rolled out for young people in the region, covering Information Technology, Agriculture, and Tourism. He also highlighted the eagerness of youths to receive training during Dr. Jagdeo’s visit.

Youths were very attentive during Monday’s training exercise which will be done continuously.

The youths will be put into clusters to manage the shade houses where they are expected to gain experience and eventually become entrepreneurs.