Flood-affected Pomeroon farmers get Govt aid

Farmers from the Pomeroon, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), who were affected by prolonged flooding over the past few weeks on Saturday received assistance in the form of fertilisers, chemicals and other planting materials from the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI). The Agriculture Ministry on Saturday said that the relief is subsequent to a meeting between Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha and a number of the affected farmers last week. At the meeting, Mustapha had committed to assisting the affected farmers after several requests were made for items such as chemicals, fertilisers and planting materials to help restore their farms after the prolonged flooding caused extensive damage to their crops.

CEO of NAREI, Dr Oudho Homenauth said that the agency had expended close $3 million to procure the fertilisers, chemicals, seeds and other planting materials that were distributed to the farmers.
Mustapha, while offering a comment on the exercise, said that Government will continue to support the nation’s farmers.
“When I visited the Pomeroon, those farmers who were affected said that they really needed help with these items since most of their crops were destroyed. I made a commitment to have these items distributed among the farming community and today we were able to fulfil that commitment. As Minister of Agriculture, I will continue to work to address the needs of our farmers. With the renewed interest we have seen in the agriculture sector over the past six months, the Ministry and the entire Government will ensure we play that facilitating role to promote agriculture and support our farmers,” Mustapha is quoted as saying in a statement from the Ministry.
Extension officers from NAREI had conducted farm visits over the last few days to assess the losses and get a general idea of the need of each farmer affected. A number of farmers also benefited from a quantity of Acoushi ants bait.