Farmers at Ithaca, Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), are expected to receive direct benefits to improve their agricultural potential after the formation of a new committee in the community.
Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha and members of the Ithaca Agriculture Committee
The committee was formed following calls for the establishment of a group which will work for the betterment of the community.
“I am here to fulfil that commitment. This is only the beginning of good things to happen to this community,” Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha told farmers of Saturday as he charged the elected members to do their best.
“I know for a fact that there are over 1000 acres of land. That is, cash crops and crops that we want to embark on so that we can continue to make Guyana an agricultural powerhouse in this part of the hemisphere.”
The Minister admitted that after the discovery of oil, agriculture has been placed on the back burner.
“But after 10 months since I took up the position as Minister of Agriculture, we have seen a renewed interest in the agriculture sector. We are seeing many persons who would have called it a day I know saying they want to get back into agriculture. And this came about because of the budgetary allocations Government has been making in the agriculture sector; today’s activity came about because of the seriousness we are placing on agriculture to once again develop the sector to ensure Guyana plays its part in the region,” the Minister added.
He noted that Guyana has always been leading the agricultural programmes in the region while adding that Guyana has regained its position as being the spokes nation on agriculture in the Caribbean.
“If we will be leading the agriculture agenda in the Caribbean it means that every single person will have to come on board…that is why as Minister of Agriculture I want to work with every single community across our country.”
He said Guyana has to prepare itself knowing that agriculture will become one of the more important economic activities in the country.
Pointing out that Ithaca has a rich history of agricultural production, the Minister related that this has diminished over the past years.
“Many of the land that was there were left abandoned because of the infrastructural work. I want to recommit Government position that we will help you and ensure that you develop land; we will work with each and every farmer so that Ithaca can once again play that role it played in the past – the bread basket of Region Five.”
He nevertheless added that the necessary investments will have to be made to ensure that it can be restored.
Currently, he noted that the Government is working to remove trade barriers within Caricom which will ultimately result in a demand for Guyana’s agricultural produce.
Meanwhile, he promised the new group that farming tools will be made available to them along with the expertise and input from the various agencies within the Agriculture Ministry.
These include the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA), the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) and the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) among others.
Further the Minister stated that $18.6 billion was budgeted for the agricultural sector in 2020 and was increased to $22.6 billion in 2021 with the aim of making agriculture viable once again.
The new executives of the Agriculture Committee are Michael Jacque as the Chairman; Utundy Grant – Vice Chairman; Secretary – Jewel Sinclair and Treasurer Adrian Douglas along with three committee members – Jermain Benjamin, Nikita Sampson and Akeela Benjamin.
