–Agriculture Minister tells National Assembly
Guyana’s sugar industry is on a path back to profitability, driven by renewed government investment, mechanisation efforts and a comprehensive five‑year strategic plan, Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha told the National Assembly during his contribution to the 2026 budget debate on Tuesday.
The minister said that after years of decline and estate closures, sugar production has begun to rebound, citing a 26 per cent increase in sugar output in 2024 following the non‑renewal of the contract of former agriculture directors at Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), now We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) Member of Parliament, Vishnu Panday.
He argued that this turnaround reflects the impact of “planning, investment, and standing with the farmers,” rather than what he described as the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) administration’s mismanagement and abrupt dismissal of thousands of sugar workers.
A central pillar of the recovery, he noted, is the mechanisation of GuySuco’s fields, with more than 41 per cent of the corporation’s agriculture operations now mechanised and over 113,000 metric tonnes of cane harvested mechanically.
Land that was previously underutilised, such as the 5,000 hectares at Skeldon, is now being planted, reversing what the minister called “years of failure to put the land into production.”
Holding up the new five‑year strategic plan for GuySuCo, the minister said the blueprint will guide the corporation back to profitability by 2030, supported by sustained government funding.
The 2026 budget allocates $13.4 billion to the sugar industry, alongside broader investments in other crops, livestock, and fisheries, as part of a wider “people-centred” approach to agricultural development. He noted too that sugar production increased to more than 59,000 tonnes in 2025, compared to just over 47,100 tonnes in 2024.
Framing the budget as a “contract with the people,” the minister said the government’s support for sugar is about more than output and balance sheets, but improving jobs, rural livelihoods, and community stability in traditional sugar‑growing regions.
He challenged the opposition to “stand with the sugar workers” and back the allocations, insisting that the sector’s revival is both underway and central to Guyana’s long‑term efforts for sustainability.
