From time to time over the years, there have been talks of developing new agricultural industries. The media, and in particular the Government-owned media, have carried reports, sometimes with photographs, conveying the impression that such industries would be income-earners within months. For example, there was talk of the massive production of white potatoes quickly replacing imports, or of the production of turmeric and other spices. Unfortunately, the optimistic hopes propagated to the public have never materialized.
The various agricultural industries talked of were quite feasible to be developed, but the State never went far enough to accord effective incentives to prospective producers.
The coconut industry is one which could be a money-spinner for the country. Coconut could be an industry which could produce scores of by-products for which there is an export as well as a local demand. Coconut and its by-products are now in growing demand world-wide. Coconut oil, which once used to be wrongly labelled as highly cholesterol, is now regarded as among the best cooking oils, many consumers preferring it to olive and canola oils. It was therefore no surprise there was a recent report that a British investor was coming into the Industry.
Most of the old coconut-growing families who had large estates have gone out of business. In the Pomeroon area, for instance, there is only one big producer left. The Ministry of Agriculture and the Lands and Surveys Commission should be able to locate good coconut-growing lands and advertise for suitable takers.
The economic advantages of the industry should be widely disseminated in both the print and electronic media. The numerous profitable by-products which could easily be produced should be made known to the public, as well as the available markets should also be made known to producers. NAREI has the capacity to offer some of the best technical advice to the industry, ranking among the best in the Caribbean and South America.
The coconut industry seemed to have contracted over the last two decades: Coconut oil has been largely replaced by foreign imports. Dried coconuts are still exported, but in much less quantities than formerly. Coconut fibre was widely used in upholstery, and fibre mattresses were once the preferred type. Now fibre mattresses are never used. Today a great part of coconut production is used to provide coconut water. One producer exports it to Trinidad for canning. The cans carry no reference to its Guyanese origin.
Guyana has the ability and the capacity to produce all the spices used on the local market and the world market, but yet the country imports almost all of its spices. NAREI has long had an Indian expert helping in this field, and most of the spices demanded on the world market could be successfully and economically produced in Guyana. Once there is the demand, NAREI could produce adequate planting material to satisfy all needs.
As in the coconut industry, Government should take the initiative of freely giving out long-term leases, with guarantees of later freehold ownership once the crop designated is efficiently and profitably cultivated. The knowledge of the use of many of these spices has to be resuscitated. For example, turmeric is used as a pain-killer and a preventative of Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia, and this quality of the spice is widely recognized.
An infrastructure of international packing standards already exists in Guyana. There is, for instance, the Beharry Group which has put on the local and export markets a number of spices with world class packing.
Both the coconut and spice industries could become highly profitable within the next three or four years, but this could be achieved only if the Government makes available suitable land to prospective farmers, and offer intense agricultural extension services, soft loans and marketing exploration. Government should take the initiative in this instance, and not depend on the private sector.
