Guyana expands livestock production with new land, facilities; breeding success

The Guyana Government continues to support the expansion of the livestock industry across the country, making significant investments in a number of the initiatives over the years.
According to a statement released by the Agriculture Ministry, these measures are designed to increase local production with the aim of reducing food imports.
Some 28,000 acres of land across four administrative regions (Regions 3, 5, 6 and 10), are being developed for pastures.
With regard to the embryo transfer programme, the Ministry noted that to date, there have been 238 confirmed pregnancies with 56 calf births.
On the Barbados Black Belly Sheep project, the Ministry said 1,000 sheep were received (744 ewes and 256 rams). “To date, 536 lambs were born. 116 were placed into our breeding programme while 158 farmers were beneficiaries,” the Ministry noted.
Additionally, it noted that imported bulls produced 245 calves in 2024.
Moreover, the Ministry has procured a modular duck processing facility which will allow for the slaughter of approximately 500-600 birds per day in keeping with international best practices. Five duck hatchers and incubators were also procured.
On the Black Giants bird programme, the Ministry said 116,734 chickens were produced and distributed. Black Giants are sizable dual-purpose birds that can produce up to 200 eggs annually and roughly 4.5 kilogrammes of meat.
On the hatching eggs programme, the Ministry noted that for the first time ever, 144,886 broiler eggs were produced last year.
In other areas of livestock development, the Ministry said it has been promoting the establishment of tunnel ventilated pens among stakeholders. “The introduction of this system of intensive farming for broilers will reduce the incidence of endemic diseases, increase biosecurity and increase the production of meat and hatching eggs. So far 15 such pens have been established nationally,” the Ministry noted.