Govt aiming to ramp up rice production to 870,000 tonnes

…vegetable production to reach 400,000 mt by 2025

The Government has set specific targets as it aims to ramp up agricultural production in several areas, ranging from rice production to other crop and vegetable production, as part of its drive to increase food security.
During his presentation to members of the diaspora in Orlando, Florida, President Dr Irfaan Ali informed them on some of the targets that the Government has set when it comes to agriculture. For instance, Guyana is looking to boost the production of corn and soya which is a relatively new crop.
“By 2025, we’re looking at increasing our poultry production from 50,000 metric tonnes to 90,000 metric tonnes. An almost 100 per cent increase. Corn and soya, for the first time in the history of our country, we’re now doing corn and soya on a commercial scale. And we’re now projected to produce 35,000 metric tonnes by 2035.”

He also referred to rice production, noting that they are aiming to increase its output to over 800,000. According to the President, the Government is focused on positioning Guyana to become a leader in food production.
“We’re looking to move our vegetables production from 324,000 metric tonnes to 400,000 metric tonnes. Rice, from 560,000 metric tonnes to 870,000 metric tonnes by 2025. Aquaculture. In one year alone, we’ve increased our shrimp production from 2250 kg to 1.2 billion kg, in one year,” the President said.
The mid-year report shows that out of the $32.6 billion budgeted in the agriculture sector, $15.8 billion was spent. This money was spent on a number of things, including constructing major infrastructure, procurement of equipment and capacity building.

Rice
In the rice sector, over $100 million has been spent to improve rice yields. Additionally, support in pest control has been provided to farmers, while the Agriculture Ministry also marked the milestone of the Value-Added Laboratory becoming operational in March 2022.
“At the end of the review period, 16,277 bags of seeds were produced and of this amount, 13,153 bags of quality seeds were produced at the Burma Rice Research Centre while the remaining 3124 bags were by private seed growers from the No 56 Seed Facility. Research and testing continued in the first half with 6 of the 8 aromatic lines, 10 of the 12 high yielding lines and 4 of the 16 biofortified zinc lines selected for further testing.”
“Additionally, the Value-Added Laboratory became operational in March 2022 while research on rice and rice products progressed to working with bakeries to commercially produce bread and pastries from rice flour. Further, the completion of the Soil Laboratory was delayed due to the challenges with the supply of equipment for the laboratory owing to the global supply chain crisis,” the mid-year report stated.
According to the report, the Soil Lab is expected to be operational in February 2023. Once operational, it is expected to improve accessibility to soil testing in the rice industry, so that the nutrients required for rice cultivation can be optimised to maximise production of paddy.

Other crops
In the first half of the year, $651.9 million of the $1.3 billion budgeted for the year was spent in supporting other crops, which includes vegetables. The results of that support include the completion of 109 shade houses, four green houses and the expansion of various spices. The Government is projecting that by year end, 62 acres of turmeric and 633 acres of ginger will be in cultivation.
Meanwhile, the sum of $142.7 million out of $343.7 million was expended by the Fisheries Department during the review period. Through the Government’s interventions into aquaculture production, there was a 444.1 per cent increase in the first half of the year compared with the same period in 2021.
Additionally, at mid-year, brackish water shrimp production increased by 292.6 per cent. This, according to the mid-year report, was a direct result of Government’s expanded brackish water shrimp production programme.
Government’s focus on agriculture is down to the vision of making Guyana the bread basket of the Caribbean and reducing the regional food import bill. Last year, President Ali had declared that his Government would be pursuing an aggressive campaign to dismantle regional barriers to agricultural trade and that in the next four years, with the assistance of more diversified crops, Guyana would aim to reduce Caricom’s food import bill by 25 per cent. (G3)