President Irfaan Ali received the prestigious 2024 Caribbean Global Leader Award this past week. By far, President Ali had the biggest vote for the 2024 award. At the UN, Guyana was one of the most-sought-after countries, with President Ali being one of the most-sought-after global leaders.
Guyana, acknowledged for its Low Carbon Development Strategy and for being a leader in food and nutrition security, climate and environmental security, and energy security, also announced its intention to double its protected areas to preserve its biodiversity. Guyana is launching, together with other countries and partners, a global alliance for biodiversity.
At the same time, the Opposition in Guyana have changed their minds, or are pretending to change their minds, by announcing that they no longer support closing SUGAR; they now demand diversification of the sugar sector. Diversification has been the strategy of the PPP government for some time now. It is an option that the Opposition all but abandoned between 2015 and 2020, when they chose to close sugar. It is good to see that they have seen the light; but they speak with forked tongues. On the one hand, they keep insisting that the Government is pouring money down a black hole, while now saying also that they would keep sugar, but diversify the industry. They now have basically endorsed the PPP’s position.
This is an example of the difference between the Government and the Opposition. While the Government pursues policies and actions that are evidence-based and science-based, the Opposition just shouts out nonsense. The Government has pursued sound policies in agriculture; the Opposition, on the other hand, every and every single time they open their mouths, expose how clueless they are.
The Ministry of Agriculture has, through the GRDB, been spreading awareness of a new variety of paddy seed this past week, the GRDB 14-10. This new strain promises higher yields, greater disease-resistance, and enhanced nutritional benefits. G-14-10 variety was developed through combination of a breeding line from Colombia with local Guyanese stock. The research team that developed the new variety was led by a West Coast Berbice-based scientist, Dr. Mahendra Persaud. Extensive research at the Burma Rice Research Center and in farmers’ plots demonstrated that the variety provides high yield, potentially producing over nine tons per hectare, and is tougher and faster maturing than other varieties, such as GRDB 10 and 16. Additionally, the GRDB 14-10 can have delayed harvesting for up to 16 days without losing yields.
The above is an example of what distinguishes the PPP government from the Opposition. It uses evidence-based and scientific principles in pursuing policies and programmes. It does not pursue just wild talk. Rice is a good example of how evidence-based science has been used to transform an industry. This year, Guyana is on track to finally surpass the annual production of 700,000 tons of rice.
I had set this target for 2020 when I was Minister of Agriculture. In 2014, leaving out rice production at Santa Fe (Region 9), Guyana produced 698,000 tons, almost reaching the 2020 target six years ahead of time. But the 2015-2020 period proved disastrous. In the first crop of 2015, Guyana had reached close to 400,000 tons, well on the way to reaching the 700,000 tons’ target. But then the PNC-led APNU/AFC took over, and the second crop was a total failure and Guyana barely reached 600,000 tons, almost 100,000 tons less than in 2014. It is likely that, weather permitting, Guyana could reach 800,000 tons in 2025.
Considering that in 1990, Guyana could not produce 100,000 tons, and that in the late 1990s, we were able to consistently reach 250,000 tons, reaching 700,000 tons is testimony to prudent and sound policies based on science.
Between 2010 and today, Guyana has introduced 10 new varieties of paddy seed, introducing a new variety every 18 months or every three crops. These varieties are higher-yielding, hardier, more resistant to environmental stress, and are even more nutritious. From one-to-one-and-one-half tons per hectare in the 1970s, Guyana is now capable of yielding 9 tons per hectare. With other innovations, like drone-spreading of pesticides, drone-sowing of paddy seeds, and laser-levelling of land, Guyana can increase production even more. Because the PPP government believes in science and utilizes evidence-based policies, Guyana is likely to reach one million tons of rice by 2030 with the same acreage of land.
This is what science can do. Increased production of rice and other agricultural produce is not accidental; science and evidence-based programmes are causing a dramatic production in aquaculture. We see it with brackish shrimp and with caged-marine fishing. Aqua and mariculture are adding to Guyana’s food security by increasing the production of fish and shrimp. It is why Guyana’s agriculture production has been increasing, and why we have added new crops such as soya, millet, red beans, etc.
By 2026, Guyana would eliminate the importation of corn and soya. This would preserve more than US$50M of import costs. But by 2028, Guyana would also be exporting new produce, such as corn, soya, millet and red beans. The cost of production for stockfeed would be lowered, and Guyana could become competitive with the US for supplying poultry products to other Caricom countries.
Vision and science-led policies are transforming the agriculture sector. It is why President Ali’s 25 X 25 food security initiative has already been hailed around the world as a resounding success. But we must note that the initiative is not just food security; it is a food and nutrition security initiative. In this regard, science has led to Guyana producing mineral-fortified rice, such as zinc-fortified rice that provides more nutrition.
It is this science-led approach that would see Guyana being a leader when the Biodiversity Alliance is launched in Guyana soon. And hopefully, Guyana can take the lead in creating a world-class germplasm centre.
