Agri sector being modernised – Mustapha

– New breeds of cattle, new produce, technology available to farmers locally

Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha is encouraging locals to take advantage of the many opportunities the Government is creating for development of agriculture.
In a recent outreach in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) the minister declared that the agriculture sector is being modernized, and spoke about a meeting he had had with the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) regarding new developments in the industry.
“We were talking about increasing in the new technology that we brought to Guyana, the embryo transplant. We already have over fifty new calves that we (bred) through the embryo transplant,” he noted.
In fact, the minister said there are more that 70 new breeds of cattle available to farmers locally “to help farmers to increase their breed”.
“Right here the President was when he launched the black belly sheep programme. We received from Barbados a thousand black belly sheep. We have since had a thousand more coming from those we got from Barbados,” Mustapha detailed.
In terms of crops, the minister boasted that new crops are being cultivated.
“We are not only increasing production in traditional crops like rice, fruits and vegetables, but we are going into new crops. Last year we planted 12,000 acres of corn and soya. We increased it from three thousand acres the year before to 12,000 acres last year, and this year we are hoping to increase that to 25,000 acres, where we can be self-sufficient and save approximately US$40 million in imports,” the minister pointed out.
Also noting that the Agriculture Ministry in now moving to a higher level, wherein hydroponics is being pursued countrywide, Minister Mustapha declared, “At Fort Wellington in Region Five, we have already completed the entire structure for the hydroponic farm. We are now putting in the trays with the plants – one hundred thousand plantlets. Young people from here in Region Five will be involved there.”
Moreover, in highlighting that production of black eye and red beans has started on a large scale, with Kimbia being one of the areas targeted, Minister Mustapha said, “We are now building the roads, and they are almost completed. We are now putting in a 12,000-ton silo there, and we have massive cultivation of black eye peas.”
Stating that by mid-year Guyana would not only be self-sufficient in production of black eye peas, but would become an exporter of the commodity to Caricom, Minister Mustapha declared, “Those are the visions that we have, leaving out rice cultivation this year.”
He disclosed that more than six hundred shade houses have been built across the country this year, and a further two hundred will be constructed.
This is aside from those that have been built to cultivate high-value crops like broccoli, cauliflower and carrots, which are being sold in the hospitality and oil and gas industries.
He also noted that young people are being engaged in this agriculture expansion.
“Young people. You know young people have a different perception of agriculture. They feel that agriculture is not for them, it is for mature people and people who never went to school. We are changing that perception, and we have hundreds of young people today that are involved in agriculture, that are making their likelihood from agriculture. People would have gone to the University of Guyana and come out with a degree in agronomy, or gone to the Guyana School of Agriculture and come out with a diploma, and were never evolved in agriculture. Today we are engaging those persons, and hundreds of them are in agriculture, earning their livelihood,” he declared.
Last year Guyana produced a record 725,000 tons of rice. This year the target has been set at 804,000 tons, and the Agriculture Minister anticipates the target would be reached and surpassed.
“Those are the new things that we’re talking about,” he said, as he added that the ministry is also encouraging women and single parents to get involved in the sector.