The Ministry of Agriculture through the New Guyana Marketing Corporation is implementing a new farmers’ initiative called ‘Grow More’ to meet the market demands for local agricultural produce.
At a press briefing on Friday afternoon, Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud said that the demand for produce on the local market and for export to the Caribbean region is steadily increasing and with it the price for food. He said there is a need to meet external market demands and at the same time provide full quantities of fresh produce to local consumers.
While the ‘Grow More’ campaign is not a novel idea, it is for the first time featuring a market-led approach as focus will be placed specifically on crops that are in demand on the market and farmers will cultivate what they are fully familiar with.
Five-step plan
The ministry’s support for the programme will follow a five-step plan. The first step is the implementation of a US$20.4M Agricultural Export Diversification programme. Through this the ministry hopes to contribute to the growth in the industry; put systems in place for a substantial increase in the income derived from the export of non-traditional agricultural exports and increase the capabilities of the agribusiness export and facilitation services.
The second step is the implementation of the US$6M Rural Enterprise and Agriculture Development programme which seeks to increase opportunities available to small-scale rural farmers, and increase access and strengthen services available to rural farmers. The third step includes the increased investment in drainage and irrigation with a budget allocation of US$5M, support from the IDB, restoring drainage to areas abandoned by farmers and training farmers to manage the maintenance of rehabilitated structures.
The fourth step is an enhanced extension service while the fifth step is to increase the availability of seed and planting materials.
Persaud said that some 300,000 plants are to be made available this year as compared to 150,000 last year. The construction of seedling houses and nurseries across the country is also on the agenda for this year, and the NGMC plans to make seeds available to farmers since other distributors charge high prices.
Other measures include the development of more efficient water distribution systems and the promotion of greenhouse cultivation. The aqua-culture and api-culture industries are also to be developed.
Meanwhile at the briefing Persaud said that the ministry acting on information had seized a quantity of illegal foreign oranges amounting to about two metric tonnes. The find was reported to the Guyana Revenue Authority and investigations are ongoing as to how the oranges supposedly shipped from China and other locations had “slipped in.”
The ministry has advised that importation of citrus fruits is prohibited. This measure was put in place to protect Guyana’s citrus industry from the introduction of pests and viruses such as the Citrus Tristeza Virus.
