Regional ferry service to boost Guyana’s fruits & vegetables’ exports

The regional ferry service announced by the Governments of Guyana, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago, which is expected to come on stream soon, will boost the exports of fruits and vegetables from Guyana, according to Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha.
During a community meeting in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), Mustapha assured residents of the grand exportation of fruits and vegetables through the regional ferry service.
Details surrounding the regional ferry service are still being ironed out, but the Trinidad and Tobago Cabinet has approved the use of that country’s Galleons Passage vessel to operate the ferry service.
Mustapha referred to the aggressive plan underway to cultivate a large quantity of onions for export via the ferry service, and, more so, to be consumed by locals.
“Last month we harvested the trial, and it was very promising; we had close to 15 tons per hectare. If we could cultivate 200 tons of onions per hectare, then we can satisfy the local demands and still have to export” he stated.
This particular way of cultivating onions, set out by the Agriculture Ministry, is one which the authorities are striving to continue, so that money currently being used to import onions can be diverted to other projects.
Meanwhile, as onions are being cultivated, plans are afoot to make Region One (Barima-Waini) “the spice region” of Guyana. Huge quantities of ginger, turmeric, nutmeg and black pepper are also set for cultivation. Currently, some one million pounds of ginger is being grown.
“We have produced millions of pounds of ginger. We want to make Region One the spice region…we have started the production of ginger, turmeric, nutmeg and black pepper; all those spices are coming out of Region One,” Minister Mustapha has said.
Significant increase in the production of spices in 2023 was due to Government’s intervention in providing materials to farmers in Regions One and Three.