GLDA to expand poultry production in hinterland areas

Poultry meat and egg production is expected to increase in Regions Seven (Cuyni-Mazaruni) and Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) through the Guyana Livestock Development Authority’s (GLDA) “Black Giant Poultry” initiative.
According to the Government Information News Agency (GINA) on Saturday, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the GLDA, Dr Dwight Walrond explained that the purpose of the Black Giant Poultry is to foster growth in egg and poultry meat production in the hinterland communities “as a means of mitigating the difficulties associated with access to poultry as a source of protein” by utilising a resilient species of poultry known as the “Black Giant” in the outlying areas.
“Because of the logistics in moving feedstuff into the hinterland areas, we thought it best to have a breed that is adaptable to those

conditions. The Black Giant can scavenge well in the yard system so we don’t need these commercial feeds for those birds and when we look at the amount of eggs they produce per year and the amount of meat from each bird, we think that that is the ideal bird to assist our hinterland communities,” Dr Walrond related to GINA.
Dr Walrond also stated that this strategy will be implemented in other hinterland and coastland regions, utilising the authority’s resources in the future.
“We would have to work with Deep South, South Rupununi and if you know how these communities operate, we have a lot of village flocks, school flocks, women’s group and working with each one of them and supplying breeding stock to each one would be key,” Dr Walrond explained.
It was also highlighted that facilitation is being made to guarantee that an adequate number of birds will be available for distribution to the communities.
A major role will also be played by GLDA’s hatchery in Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara, in allowing the availability of hatchlings for the initiative.
The GLDA official sees this project as a fruitful one in the future, “and I know, not only the hinterland communities will grab hold of that, but also some of the coastal communities because if you look at the cost of Creole eggs that’s a thriving business. On the coast now we have some farmers doing Creole eggs only,” Dr Walrond added.
In accordance with the Ministry of Finance’s mid-year economic report, the country’s livestock industry grew by 0.8 per cent for the first half of 2016 compared to the corresponding period in 2015.
The Black Giant Poultry initiative is expected to lead to greater productivity of chickens among livestock farmers, improve biosafety in the industry, as well as reduce the cost of protein sources for consumers in the hinterland.