Concentrate on large-scale production – Agri Minister to farmers

…assures of Govt’s continued investment in sector

Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha on Saturday said that government will continue to support farmers and calls on farmers to increase production.
“Government will continue to invest in the agriculture sector,” he told farmers at Black Bush Polder (BBP) on Saturday.
Mustapha was at the time addressing farming groups from the polders as he presented supplies to six farming groups in BBP.
He pointed out that the agriculture sector is vital in ensuring Guyana’s food security. Among the items supplied to the groups were water pumps and land tillers.
“We are making these investments because we want to ensure that we invest in the infrastructure, we develop the agriculture sector so that you can benefit. Today we have a number of groups that will be receiving some inputs from the Ministry of Agriculture. We are trying to make agriculture more innovative, more modern…”
The minister called on farmers to produce in large quantities, noting that the ministry will be working with farmers in the polder to ensure that is realised.
“You can’t plant everything under the sun. Guyana is poised to be the food capital of the Caribbean. We have to reduce the food import bill by 25 percent by 2025. If that is to be successful you have to play a part. We will work along with you, that is why you are seeing the kind of investment that we are making. If you are planting something, you must plant it in large acreage. Don’t just plant a few things and then take it to the market and sell it. We have to concentrate on producing large-scale produce,” Mustapha outlined.
He said the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA), the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI), the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), and the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) to work closely with those farmers.
“We have ensured that we gave funds to the BBP Water Users Association to maintain all of the dams and although we have done that, I am still getting calls from Black Bush that some dams are not being done.”
Mustapha said apart from producing in large quantities, farmers also need to diversify. He noted that there are a lot of opportunities for farmers to do this.
“Not only rice farming alone. Rice farming is good, crop farming is good but we have to diversify and go into other areas and we from the Ministry of Agriculture will work along with you to get into other programmes,” he said while noting that BBP has a history of producing food in large quantities.
“Let us go back to that,” he admonished.

Reminding the farmers of some of the inputs the government has been making directly to farmers and farming communities since the Peoples Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), Mustapha said if the party is removed from office, then those inputs will stop.
He pointed out that in 2015, cash grants were given to farmers to assist them in producing with a promise that the assistance will continue once the party remains in office.
However, that year the party was ousted from office and then the new administration discontinued the cash grants to farmers.
“Many of us are not looking at our future… Since coming back into office 35,000 Guyanese would have received house lots from this government. Sometimes we are petty and say if our drain is not clean or if we get a bad road we are not going to vote. If you do that everybody will punish. The point is that now we have to look at the bigger picture. That is why the investment in agriculture moved from $13 billion in 2020 to $97 billion this year,” Mustapha said.
The minster also met with farming groups at Bushlot, where six more farming groups along the Central Corentyne Coast also received farming supplies. (G4)