Farmers can overcome labour shortages by embracing technology – Mustapha

Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha is encouraging farmers to utilise available technology, which could help to cushion the effects of Guyana’s labour shortage.
The Minister, who was at the time speaking at a recently held farmers’ Open Day at Onverwagt, West Coast Berbice, Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), noted that drones, which are available locally, can be used by farmers to mitigate the impact of the labour shortage.
According to Mustapha, Guyana has been making strides to modernise the agriculture sector.
As such, he said farmers should be doing the same, as he spoke of the use of drones to further enhance the capabilities of those operating in the sector.
In some countries, drones are being used to fertilise and apply insecticides and other chemicals to rice crops.
Mustapha urged farmers to embrace technology, noting that drones for use in the agriculture sector can be imported duty-free.

“Let us take the opportunity and use the technology that we have because today we are finding that we have a shortage of labour, but if we modernise and use the technology then we can overcome those shortages in the labour sector.”
The Minister pointed out that there is a renewed interest in the agriculture sector locally as the Government recognises the sector as a very important one in the non-oil economy.
Despite the growth being seen as a direct result of the oil and gas sector, Agriculture Minister Mustapha addressing farmers in Region Five explained that the non-oil sector has been showing significant growth.
Last year, the non-oil sector grew by almost 12 per cent.
“And that is a monumental achievement for us because today around the countries when they add up all of their sectors together are hardly recording double-digit growth and we in the agriculture sector here are making that contribution to the economy,” he told the farmers.
The Minister noted that for the first time since the formation of Caricom, much emphasis is being placed on the sector regionally, with countries that build their economies on tourism and oil and gas, now rapidly moving to develop their agriculture sector.
“Because they have seen that the agriculture sector is one of the more important sectors for us if not the most important sector because this sector is responsible for food security, so food production and food security for us in Guyana are very important,” Mustapha pointed out.

Record-breaking production
Meanwhile, locally, Mustapha is predicting that despite the current El Nino, which has resulted in drought-like conditions, the first rice crop for 2024 should see record-breaking productions in the MMA Scheme.
To achieve this, adequate irrigation would be required. The MMA Scheme plays a significant role in the production of rice in the Mahaica-Berbice region and intimately in Guyana’s food production capacity.
According to the Minister, 20,000 acres are being developed in the Scheme for farmers who do not have their own land.
Mustapha said the Government is hoping to put the relevant rules in place to prevent those who have land leased to them in the scheme and who live overseas from sub-letting those lands to farmers.
“We have to have the people who are living in the scheme and want the land to plant; they are the people who must have the land to plant. In many areas and especially in the rice sector, we are trying to bring down the cost of production. When we bring down the cost of production, you the farmers will enjoy a better profit and have a better income and the populace will enjoy cheaper prices.”
Meanwhile, in the fruits and vegetable sector, consumers are paying prices higher than they should because of what the Minister called ‘middlemen’ who have been inserting huge markups, resulting in some consumers paying 75 per cent more than what the farmer charges. (G4)