Better prices, modern farming tools, expanded agri-opportunities in next term – Pres Ali tells Mahaicony farmers

President Ali, who is seeking a second term in office at the September 1, General and Regional Elections, addressing residents of Mahaicony, Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) on Thursday during a meeting hosted by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) said he is hoping to transform not only the country but also the lives of its citizens.

“I am impatient about this future because, as you know, I do not intend to leave any of this work behind for those who will come after me in the People’s Progressive Party/Civic. We have to get it done and get it done in the next five years. It is a future about developing small businesses by supporting you with grants, by supporting you with investment opportunities, by supporting you with business innovation opportunities, by giving you the tools, the technical knowledge, the financial support, by giving you what is necessary to succeed in your small business,” he declared.
Region Five is the largest agricultural producing region in Guyana, and President Ali addressed some of his plans to boost agricultural production in that region.
He said he wants to build a country where the economy will be diversified and farming will be profitable. One in which young people and women can be fully involved in farming.
“Building a country that would lead this region in food security; where we will be exporting food for the rest of the region. A country and for your region, let me speak specifically – we’re talking about building an economy in this region that would supply all of the Caribbean and North America with prawns, with processed food, with packaged lamb, with packaged beef.”
He pointed out that prawn production has already commenced in the region, while a modern abattoir has also been built in Region Five.
“We want to grow our livestock in this region by fivefold. We can’t do that through the normal cycle. That is why we will import bred, high-yielding animals and give it to the farmers, give it to the women, and give them to the young people,” President Ali continued. “We are not only going to bring in the animals and give them to you. We are going to build a feed mill that will get corn and soya produced right here in Guyana, so we can get you high-quality feed for your livestock. And then we know also we have to help you, the farmers, with the transportation,” he added.

Rice farming
Making mention of crop insurance, President Ali said the new Government will assist farmers in accessing capital. “We are going to invest with you,” he pledged.
President Ali said small and medium-sized rice farmers must come together and form a consortium, and the Government will give them the needed tools and equipment in an effort to reduce the cost of production, increase their yield and expand their production.
“It is not only about investment in D&I (drainage and irrigation), it is making the farmers the owners of the system, giving the farmers the equipment and empowering them to manage the system so that our farmers will manage the system that protects their farms. It is about working with the new scientists in Guyana and around the world to bring the new variety of paddy that can withstand salt water so that we can have a risk-averse agricultural system in rice,” Ali told the residents of Mahaicony, of which a large percentage were farmers.
He said his administration will guarantee stable prices for paddy, “Because we will create a stabilisation fund. It is about ensuring that you don’t have to wait for the second crop to be paid, but that there is a fund that ensures you are paid a fair price for your paddy. It’s about building predictability in the system.”

Cash crop farming
The Government will be investing in cold storage facilities in Region Five to assist cash crop farmers.
“So when you have high production, you don’t have to dump it, but you can store it, and the Government will create a purchasing mechanism through the Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) to purchase excess production and to take that excess production into value creation,” President Ali said.
“We are building a comprehensive system to support our farmers so they will have predictability in their income, so that they can reduce their risk, increase their profitability, so when they go to the bank, the risk will be reduced. We will co-invest with them to bring down the cost of interest rate, to reduce the collateral requirement, so that our farmers can borrow cheaper and easier through the banking system.”
President Ali said the Government will be investing in drone technology and precision agriculture technology. The technology to make extension service available to farmers through the telephone of a 24-hour basis. “It is about taking farmers’ education to the field, not to bring farmers to an office in Georgetown. We have to see what the problem is in the field and take the technical service to the field because we have to fix the problems in the field. It is about working with a financial system to support you, bigger and better, that is what it is about. It is about a future that builds prosperity and creates opportunity.” President Ali said the aim is to also identify opportunities and lead farmers to those opportunities.
“There is no other country in this world that will grow the way we will grow, that will invest in the people the way we will invest, that will build prosperity in your life like we will build – none. Because the aim of this Government in the next five years is to do ten years of work, minimum. So we have to make 24 hours a day count,” he avowed.