Agri Minister encourages other farmers to adopt similar ventures
Local entrepreneurs have been taking up government’s call to adopt new technology to mitigate the effects of climate change and to improve crop production.

Investor Gerald Mekdeci has put in over $40M into a hydroponics venture, right in Georgetown. Hydroponics farming uses nutrients in water instead of soil. In this way there is controlled high quality balanced nutrition for the plant.

Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud, along with investor Gerald Mekdeci and other officials, inspecting lettuce on the hydroponics farm.

Wednesday, Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud, accompanied by the National Agricultural Research Institute’s (NARI) Director, Dr. Oudho Homenauth, visited the farm on Water Street, where he noted that technology and initiatives such as hydroponics are needed in the agriculture sector to deal with some of the challenges.

Dr. Homenauth stated that the technology will aid in combating the effects of climate change as it could be used year round and has the potential of creating quality produce since it uses a reduced level of fertiliser. The commodities are also free of pests and diseases.

The Agriculture Minister said he hoped other farmers will take up similar initiatives, since NARI was propagating the use of this technology around the country. The Ministry of Agriculture has been exposing farmers to technology such as the use of greenhouses and semi-greenhouses in an effort to alleviate the effects of climate change and garner better crop yields.

Minister Persaud noted that farmers contemplating the use of this type of technology will be given technical advice and support through the Agriculture Diversification Programme, the Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) and NARI. With the Agriculture Diversification Programme, entities carrying out such operations will be considered, since the aim of the programme is to develop farmers’ clusters for fruits, vegetables, livestock and aquaculture. In the programme is a matching grant component which will provide partial financing once the relevant criteria are met.

Mekdeci said he had farmed in the intermediate savannah; but because of heavy transportation costs, he considered building green houses right in Georgetown. The first greenhouse was built in 2007 and three others were set up this year.

He noted that because the business is profitable, he was able to access loans, and he will expand and build six other greenhouses. He hopes to complete these in another two months.

At the moment, the farm has 16 employees; but Mekdeci said as the project expands, more will be hired. Plans are also afoot to experiment with other types of produce.(GINA)