-Agriculture Minister says, points to massive production of hatching eggs, construction of new poultry facilities

WITH major targets set, Guyana is anticipated to lead the Caribbean’s meat and poultry industries, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha has said.

During a recent exclusive interview with the Guyana Chronicle, Mustapha said the country is on the brink of achieving self-sufficiency in egg, dairy and meat production, following setbacks with an outbreak of hepatitis.

“We are now recovering; we are moving back [to] where we were. We have already had discussions with the banks to reduce capital expenditure so that we can implement these new, modern tunnel houses, so that farmers can have better practices, a more modern way of doing poultry rearing,” Mustapha explained.

The government, he noted, has been working closely with local farmers to increase egg production and for the first time in Guyana’s history, the country has been able to consistently produce hatching eggs.

The minister keenly pointed out that with newer technologies, the country successfully produced some 27,000 hatching eggs and already in 2024, Guyana has produced 94,000.

“Last year, we produced 27,000 and this year, for the first half, we produced 94,000 and … we have started a massive programme in the production of hatching eggs. We are producing a lot of table eggs, but for the first time in our history in our country we are producing hatching eggs.”

DAIRY PRODUCTION

Meanwhile, Mustapha noted that work is being done to catapult the dairy industry. To this end, the government has been supporting public-private initiatives which will see the construction of a modern milk plant.

He explained that once this facility comes on stream, it is expected that the country can become a main exporter.
The Demerara Dairies Incorporated, an extension of Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL), is investing some G$4 billion to build a state-of-the-art milk plant,thereby creating a market for liquid, ready-to-use milk.

“What DDL is doing is very good for us and the government is supporting it.”

He added: “Over the last three-four years we have been working with the farmers around the country. As a matter of fact, we have been importing breeding animals so they can have better animals to breed, both in the dairy and the beef industries.”

During a recent address to the National Assembly, President, Dr Irfaan Ali had highlighted the government’s push to solidify Guyana as the prime agricultural hub, pointing to the government’s strategic policies and investments to achieve many food-production targets.

“Agriculture is one component of the food ecosystem that we are developing. The food ecosystem is a much wider, complex undertaking that includes financing for agriculture, insurance for agriculture, issues of climate change; it’s about bringing together all the factors to ensure a viable food production,” President Ali said.

To achieve this, President Ali believes that focus must be placed on standard certification, infrastructure, subsidies, transport, technology, and research and development.

In this regard, he announced that in the new fiscal year, the government will introduce new rules for the poultry industry. These include the acceleration of capital investments by farmers, reducing costs and incentivising growth.

The government, he noted, restored agriculture and food production as a major centrepiece of the country’s non-oil economy.