Govt-initiated project: Corentyne farmers see boom in brackish water shrimp production

The country continues to increase its production of brackish water shrimp through Government’s dedicated investment in this sector, and farmers on the Corentyne are taking advantage of this initiative. Government initiated this project to increase inland shrimp production in 2021, and between January and November of 2022, Guyana had produced 548,900 kilogrammes of brackish water shrimp. After the Agriculture Ministry had established over 90 new ponds stretching from Fyrish to Number 50 Village on the Corentyne Coast, production of this shrimp increased between January and November of 2023 to some 815,496 kilogrammes.
There are no ponds in the villages between Manchester and Tarlogie, but some individuals within that stretch, having seen the potential in this enterprise, have since been advocating for Government’s assistance with the digging of ponds.
Government’s assistance to farmers in this brackish shrimp enterprise includes training to ensure that farmers not only employ more eco-friendly methods of production, but utilise modern techniques as well, and treat shrimp farming as a business to improve their livelihoods.

Secretary of the East Berbice Aquaculture Cooperative Society Limited, Suedat Persaud, has said his father constructed a shrimp farm in 1969, and he took over its management 40 years ago. While this farm had initially supplied only the local market, demand for the product has caused the market to expand to overseas territories, and about 75 percent of production is sold to the diaspora.
He said there has been an approximate threefold increase in production with Government’s intervention, and the price for a bucket of this shrimp is sometimes as much as $50,000.
“Right now, it is $40,000 per bucket, a 22-pint bucket. The price changed due to the inflow of foreigners, which we consider as a part of the diaspora market,” he explained. “The Fisheries Department has done something very wonderful. It was something very meaningful to Region Six and Guyana at large, because we generate a lot of foreign exchange. After intervention of the Ministry of Agriculture, we have seen also an increase in the number of fish ponds; whereas we had about forty, now we have over one hundred and fifty ponds,” he declared.
Other farmers benefitting from the brackish shrimp project are grateful for the new opportunities available to them. Shrimp farmer Desmond Hemraj, who has been in the business with a shrimp farm at Belvedere for the past fourteen years, has said Government’s assistance, which included poldering the entire farm, which consists of several ponds, and training on best practices, has helped him to improve production.
Wasim Bux, another shrimp farmer, has said that when his father acquired his farm in 1991, the area was considered ‘high land’ and the sixteen-acre plot had only a few ponds. It was left idle for a while, until his father passed away, “and then I took over when this Government came back in power.”
He said production has increased with Government’s investment in this enterprise. “We have new channels in the river and a better sea dam to bring in shrimp and water. We could now extend and employ more people, and I think that is what the Government is looking for. We thank them a lot for this,” he declared.
According to Suedat Persaud, some persons have been focusing on exporting all of their production of this commodity.
Apart from those employed as labourers at the ponds and as security on the farms, many others are employed as processors in the industry.
The shrimp is processed by skilled processors who are sought out for the job. Some is sold on the local market and some is exported. Government, he noted, has been assisting with providing the necessary documentation in order to facilitate exportation.
Some of these farmers face the challenge of poor water quality. Persaud explained that sometimes the salinity of the water is not conducive to the rearing of brackish water shrimp. However, improved irrigation is being provided by the Government as a means to addressing that challenge. (G4)