Govt offers 100 acres of land to UG, GSA students/graduates for farming

– over 140 to benefit from ground-breaking initiative

While Guyana has experienced exponential growth in its agriculture sector over the last four years, the demand for food in the poultry, aquaculture and cash crop sectors continues to rise. In response to this growing demand, Government has launched a new programme that would see 100 acres of land being offered to young people who have either completed studies or are currently pursuing studies at the University of Guyana (UG) and the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA) to work on farmsteads and develop agri-based businesses.
The initiative, which would be spearheaded by the Agriculture Innovation Entrepreneurship Programme in collaboration with the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI), was announced on Friday by President Dr Irfaan Ali.
The Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission would also be a partner in this project, which would come on stream in six weeks time and would provide the opportunity for agriculture students to relocate to farms along the Soesdyke-Linden Highway.

In fact, Government is already in talks with commercial banks to develop financing options in regard to this project.
According to President Ali, it is envisioned that the students would cultivate crops such as breadfruit, coconut, and red beans sustainably, and be able to combat some of the effects of climate change.
So, we are targeting at least 500 farmsteads, and we are going to link the production from these 500 farmsteads to a market, so that we are doing it at scale Within 6 weeks, we are hoping to start that program, so some of you will also be deployed on that program, and this program will target the improvement of life for single mothers and single parents especially, so that they can have also an opportunity, the Head of State explained.
For the students who are not interested in relocating to the farmsteads, but are passionate about excelling in the agriculture industry, President Ali has said this new initiative would also group students to work in the poultry and aquaculture industries.
Specifically in poultry, the students can work in farms across the country, where they would gain knowledge and be exposed to the tunnel house approach to poultry farming, which is known to triple production.

When you look at the numbers, what are the tunnel house with 35,000 chickens? It becomes very competitive and very profitable And this is something, I think, that is a model for us here in Guyana, that we can share with the rest of the world, he explained.
We have, for example, I said the opportunity of expanding our poultry production, because the growth in demand for poultry products is exceeding our production quite often, Dr. Ali noted.
The Head of State added that a similar approach would be taken in the aquaculture industry in order to increase the production of prawns and brackish water shrimp, among other things.
The Guyanese Leader noted that while the move would play a crucial role in aiding the country s goal to achieve vision 25 by 2025 , under his government, more emphasis is being placed on motivating students to become agri-business entrepreneurs.
So (the programme is) to do three things: One, bring your theory into practice, transfer the theory into results, allow you to earn and build capital formation. Then we are going to help you with the banks also, so that we can create entrepreneurs and agribusinesses. That is what we want, we want to lift you to a higher level And in bringing young people and women into agriculture and bringing innovation and resilience, we still have to be competitive and viable. So, we are working, we have been working on several programmes through which we increase yield, increase productivity, diversify our cropping system, expand our production base, and introduce new forms of crops; all aimed at improving our competitiveness and expanding our market share, while at the same time reducing our imports. And this is important, President Ali added.
The expanded programme aims to empower youths to own their agri-businesses and create other avenues to earn capital.