CALLS for an Agriculture Development Bank to support Guyana’s farmers who, from time to time, require multi-million dollars capital injections, were addressed by Minister with the portfolio, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy on Thursday night in the National Assembly.Speaking during the 2014 Budget debates, he said: “This is an ongoing discussion. I placed two financing issues in the House 28 months ago. But, before my time at the Ministry, the Ministry of Agriculture, in collaboration with partners, has, over the last several years, been studying two important initiatives, an Agri-Development Bank and crop Insurance.”
The Minister said those are mechanisms that can prove significant in Guyana’s development.
“If we are serious about agriculture as a main pillar of our development, these initiatives should be studied with a high degree of seriousness. As we implement the agriculture strategy, the Ministry of Agriculture intends to submit our recommendations, as a way forward, to Cabinet during 2014,” he stated.
According to him, the Agriculture Strategy 2013-2020 addresses the sector’s comprehensive advance, including answering the question as to how Guyana becomes more effective in its role to address food and nutrition security in the Caribbean Community (CARCOM).
HIGH QUALITY
He explained: “This new strategy frontally addresses issues such as high quality and safe food production to meet local demands and for export. It addresses the high cost of food imports and seeks to reduce such imports.”
Ramsammy said the Agriculture Strategy 2013-2020 is based on the ‘F-5’ Strategic Approach for Agriculture:
* Food Security – Consolidating the End of Hunger in Guyana, ensuring everyone has enough food in every community;
* Fibre and Nutritious Food Accessible by citizens – Nutrition Security for All;
* Fuel Production – helping to develop alternative fuel sources, reducing dependency on fossil fuel and creating a bio-energy industry in Guyana;
* Fashion and Health Products – An Agro-Processed Industry which creates a new business in Guyana for health and fashion products and
* Furniture and Crafts – an industry which is expected to further grow in importance locally.
The Minister said:“Guyana’s vision for Agriculture 2020 seeks to change the view that it is for subsistence livelihood and promote it as a wealth generator and entrepreneurial enterprise, producing food and non-food commodities to meet local and export demands.
“Previous strategies have focused on the 5-Cs and the 4Ps. Recall that in pre-Independence years and shortly after Independence, Guyana pursued a 5Cs approach, targeting citrus, cassava, coconut, cocoa and cattle. In recent years, we adopted 4Ps as a priority for the agriculture strategy – pepper, plantain, pineapple and pumpkin.
MORE HOLISTIC
“The present strategy of the F-5 takes a more holistic approach and embraces all facets of agriculture, from food to non-food aspects of agriculture. The 2013-2020 Agriculture Strategy further expands crop diversification, specifically, the commodities to be given prominence would be coconuts, cassava, pineapples, pepper, spices, culinary herbs, carrots, garlic, corn and soybean.
“The expansion of production of soursop, saigan and rambutan would also be given priority as health food,” he said
Ramsammy added that new crops herald a new agriculture thrust – a thrust to consolidate food security and secure nutrition – and stressed that Guyana’s agriculture is more than just sugar and rice.
He said: “It is true that sugar and rice have dominated any discussion on agriculture but our people have always grown enough food to feed the nation. We are a food secure country. We produce much of the food we need but Guyana needs to organise its non-sugar, non-rice agriculture and formalise it so that it functions in an architecture which is similar to the formal organisation of the rice and sugar industry.”
Ramsammy added that the Agriculture Strategy addresses this.
“…corn is not a new crop for Guyana. But commercial scale corn production is new. Soya is a new crop for Guyana. Work was initiated in 2013 on acquiring and testing higher yielding varieties of corn and soybean which are adapted to local conditions. These commodities are being targeted principally as ingredients in animal feed. Significant quantities of corn (40,000 tons) and a similar amount of soybean are imported on an annual basis. Our target is to reduce imports of these to half by 2020.
“The results, so far, indicate that at least two of the imported varieties (open pollinated) corn could be produced economically. Yields of up to eight tons per acre were obtained (four times more than our local variety). Initial cost of production is 20-25 dollars per pound. We, currently, import corn at $50 per pound. The yield for soybean was 2.5 tons per acre which is similar to Brazil.
“Commercial size plots would be established in 2014 and a package would be developed for investors. We expect to partner with at least one investor in 2014 to develop a semi-commercial enterprise. A major thrust for corn and soybean production will be for the livestock feed,” he indicated.
Ramsammy reiterated that Guyana’s agriculture is truly about more than sugar and rice and pointed out that Budget 2014 makes provisions for agricultural diversification.
By Vanessa Narine