As agriculture grows: Govt explores reintroduction of Berbice River Ferry

Guyana is leading the agricultural agenda in the Caribbean Community (Caricom) to reduce the Region’s food import bill by 25 per cent by 2025.
As agricultural pursuits and new crops open up the country’s sector beyond traditional produce, Public Works Minister Juan Edghill shared that Government is exploring the option of reintroducing the ferry in the Berbice River.
During an event on Friday, Edghill noted, “With Guyana’s commitment to work in Caricom for the reduction of the food import bill by 25 per cent by the year 2025, it would see us having to do more in terms of agriculture. The Berbice River is becoming a place where agriculture must be expanded. We already have soya bean and corn.”
He added, “We have sought to build the road from Ituni all the way to Tacama but river transportation to get supplies in and out is also an option. We will continue to explore how we could get the ferry back into the Berbice River.”
In March, Farmlands Guyana Incorporated became the newest investor to embark on planting soya beans and corn before the ending of 2023. The company was gearing up to commence work on an initial 1000 hectares of land in the Tacama Savannah.
Local cultivation of corn and soya commenced in 2021 after President Irfaan Ali challenged local investors to get involved in cultivation of two of the main inputs for feed for the livestock sector.
During a trip to the Tacama Savannah in September 2021, the Head of State said that sustainable food and agriculture are the country’s future, and that Government would fully support the soya bean and corn project in Ebini, which will help produce much-needed feed for the poultry industry.
Mustapha explained that Government has already invested hundreds of millions of dollars to support the industry. So far, works have been moving apace on the construction of facilities such as three 3000-tonne silos and one 80-tonne-per-hour drying tower at the Tacama Landing.
In 2022, some $887 million was budgeted to carry out infrastructural works needed to support the large-scale cultivation of corn and soya bean. Of that amount, $426 million was budgeted to complete the rehabilitation of 47 kilometres of a vital farm-to-market road linking Ituni to Tacama, starting from the junction of the Linden/Ituni road and heading east towards the Berbice River. In 2021, some $102 million was spent to commence rehabilitation works on the road. (G12)