…Skeldon & Region 10 farmers to benefit
Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo has announced that farmers in Skeldon and Region 10 are expected to benefit from a hemp production initiative, which will utilise Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo)-owned lands as part of a wider national plan for agricultural and economic diversification.
Speaking during his weekly press conference on Thursday, Jagdeo emphasised that 2,000 acres of the 26,000 acres at the Skeldon estate will be allocated to displaced or current sugar workers, each receiving two acres to cultivate hemp, primarily for export markets, including cigar production.
This initiative falls within the legal framework already established, with production restricted to Regions Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) and Ten (Upper Demerara-Berbice).
“So, we are thinking about taking 2,000 of the 26,000 acres at Skeldon, and giving it to 1,000 farmers – 2 acres each – that were laid off by GuySuCo – or might be sugar workers now – to produce the hemp, then the factory can buy it from them. Similarly, in Region 10, we want to do that on a small scale. We have identified another 35,000 acres of land that are privately owned or owned by two co-ops in the same Skeldon area. Combined, that’s a large amount. That’s over 60,000 acres of land we’re talking about – to bring into an agro-industrial complex,” the Vice President stated.
Hemp is often confused with marijuana, but it is crucial to understand the distinction between the two. Both hemp and marijuana are varieties of the cannabis plant, which includes over 100 to 156 different strains. The two most recognised strains are hemp and marijuana.
With around 100,000 to 150,000 potential use cases and products, hemp can be a versatile addition to Guyana’s economy.
Guyana’s National Assembly approved the Industrial Hemp Bill back in August 2022, paving the way for the legalisation of industrial hemp in the country. Since then, Cabinet has already approved the members of the Guyana Industrial Hemp Regulatory Authority, and the body will be formally established soon.
National plan for agricultural and economic diversification
According to the Vice President, the national plan for agricultural and economic diversification extends beyond hemp.
“In Region 5, we’re now building the canals there that will open up another 55,000 acres of land. 5,000 in Essequibo. All of this is part of our plan for agricultural diversification. More land to small people for livestock and all of the crops we’re talking about. In the hinterland regions, we’re supplying tens of thousands of planting material now. We have the tissue culture lab for the cocoa and the coffee and the turmeric and the ginger, which will come from these areas”.
“We’re spending about six billion dollars now at the back of Foulis developing an industrial estate that would employ 4,000 people. And it’s already near completed and a road, a massive road, heavy-duty road, is being built to that site for factories there. So, people that were displaced from the sugar industry…and along the East Coast, they can find work there,” he added.
Jagdeo stressed that the government’s agricultural transformation is also about income and skills diversification, moving away from traditional, labour-intensive farming toward a technologically advanced and export-oriented sector.
“We’re not just diversifying crops. We’re diversifying incomes and skills to create more stable, resilient communities,” he noted.
