Investments in agriculture will advance value-added production, development – Min Mustapha

– as GMC commissions incubator

Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha on Friday commissioned a new agri-development incubator and handed over three All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) and 2 refrigerated trucks to the Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC).

This was done with the back drop that the agriculture sector was neglected over the past years under the APNU/AFC Administration.
“Over the years what we have recognised that sectors like these were neglected, haven’t put any major effort and importance to these sectors and that is why we are still primary producer of products and country although we want our country to move and advance rapidly, we don’t [have] the necessary facilities to advance our country’s development,” he stated

The Minister explained that the $26 million investment and similar investments in the future will play a major role in not only in the development but also in the country’s international recognition.
“Investment like these will enhance not only the development within the country but enhance our country’s position to take its right position in the region,” he stated.
The Minister added that the Government will be investing $263 million in the sector while noting that more equipment will be handed out later in the year.
“We will invest in almost nine agro-processing facility and we’re not only making the investment in urban areas, we are making these investments across the country Region 9, Region 1, Region 10, Region 6, Region 5, so all these areas at the end of this year well have modern state-of-the-art agro-processing facilities. We are also working with the Private Sector to form that partnership and work with them in Private Public Partnership and only recently we’ve signed an MoU with a private company to build a processing facility in Black Bush Polder,” the Minister mentioned.
The Minister added that efforts and investments are being made so Guyana does not only engage in subsistence farming (from the farm to the market) but change the culture and the way things are being done.
However, General Manager of the Guyana Marketing Corporation, Teshawna Lall elaborated on the benefits of the new vehicles.
“The ATVs will be used by GMC’s agriculture extension officers mainly in the hinterland regions of Maburuma, Kamarang, and Linden – all areas with primarily earthen roads and scattered agriculture holdings. These ATVs will be used to visit the outlying areas to determine their scale of production, inform them of GMC’s services, link farmers to buyers and address marketing concerns. This further the improvement of GMC’s farmers and agro-processors database and to have readily accessible information for our stakeholders,” Lall noted.
She further stated that maintaining cold chain of perishable agriculture commodities during transport is imperative to its shelf life and marketability.
“As such these two refrigerator trucks will aid in the same and assist with the increased request by our local stakeholders especially farmers, exporters, supermarket operators and perishable commodities who are required to maintain cold temperatures while transporting their produce and products.”