Berbice farmers to benefit from $19M drying floor at Cotton Tree

Farmers within the vicinity of Cotton Tree, Number 5 Village, and other villages along the West Coast of Berbice will soon benefit from a new asphalt drying floor that will be constructed within the area at Cotton Tree Village.

A contract totalling close to $19 million was awarded to NP Investments on March 21, 2023 for construction of the drying floor, and completion is expected in three months.
Speaking with this publication on Wednesday, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha shared that construction of this drying floor is aimed at reducing conflicts among farmers who dry their rice in the same area.
“The reason is to ensure that…we avoid the conflict between farmers and motorists and pedestrians, because they normally dry their paddy on the road. So, we want to avoid those practices, because those were age-old practices. We’re trying to get these farmers to dry their paddy on drying floors that we have been building across the country. They usually go on the road and throw their paddy to dry, and sometimes they come in conflict with…motorists and pedestrians. So, we’re trying to get those things organized now,” Mustapha shared.
Mustapha highlighted that since he became Agriculture Minister in 2020, he has built almost one dozen drying floors across the country to better the lives of farmers.
“Since I became Minister of Agriculture, I…built almost a dozen drying (floors) across this country for the last 2.5 years,” Mustapha told iNews.