Massive agricultural development, new crops earmarked for Mara

…committee set up to work along with residents on agricultural programme

The community of Mara, on the East Bank of Berbice, is expected to undergo massive agricultural development, including new crops and the opening of new land for cultivating rice, as part of a commitment made by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government to the residents.
During a Cabinet outreach in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) over the weekend, Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha informed residents that a committee has been set up to coordinate the revitalisation of agriculture in the community, in partnership with the residents.
“And that committee now is working on a programme, because many farmers would have requested clearing of land, because many persons want to get back to the land. But we are waiting on that programme. We cannot clear all the land at the same time, but we have to decide the amount of land we will clear for each farmer.”
“We are looking to bring back the agriculture drive that started here, things like the citrus crops, the fresh fruits and vegetables. And also open up more land for rice cultivation. This area here is an area that we’ve earmarked for massive development in the agriculture sector,” the Minister further said.

According to Mustapha, areas such as Mara are important for food cultivation. He assured residents that they will be beneficiaries of budgetary allocations necessary and pointed out that since President Dr Irfaan Ali’s last visit to Mara in 2021, work has been done on 20 canals in the community.
“Guyana is leading that charge. Areas like these are important for us, where we’ll continue to make budgetary allocations and make the necessary inputs in the agriculture sector. In this area we’ve already started work to rehab all the canals. Since the President came, we’ve completed 20 of those canals,” Mustapha explained.
President Ali and his Cabinet Ministers, including Agriculture Minister Mustapha, Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall; and Culture, Youth and Sports Minister Charles Ramson, embarked on a two-day outreach in Region Six over the weekend.
During the outreach, they engaged with residents from a number of communities, and visit several major project sites. The leaders also engaged residents of Rose Hall, Port Mourant and Manchester on Saturday.
When President Ali visited Mara in 2021, he had reminded the residents of the critical role that agriculture would play in the Government’s efforts to create a sustainable livelihood and job creation for Guyanese.
The President had made it clear that his Government is serious about agriculture, and would be investing heavily in the area of food production. He said the Government would be supporting investments in areas like agro-processing.
Ali had pointed out that Government wants to build an aquaculture industry and improve the swamp shrimp production in Region Six. President Ali had noted that swamp shrimp has a large market in the diaspora, and he had further highlighted that Government is already supporting some farmers in the Corentyne area to get off the ground.
Further, the President had spoken of the need to rebuild the cattle industry to support the facility. To fast-track this, President Ali had said that the Agriculture Minister would be leading a team to the region to have a discussion with farmers. (G3)