The poultry industry is one that bears the brunt of the growing demand for corn and soya bean for conversion to bio fuel resulting in skyrocketing prices for these materials, which are vital for livestock feed supply.
It is against this background that the regional body representing poultry producers will take a proposal to Caricom agriculture ministers today for the research and development of a programme, which could see an increase in the supply of regionally produced raw materials, particularly in Belize, Trinidad and here in Guyana where land resources are readily available.
The development programme will examine the feasibility and suitability of varieties of rice, corn/sorghum and cassava that could be grown in these countries and is expected to save money given the increase in food prices worldwide.
Today the ministers will meet at Le Meridien Pegasus Hotel for the 27th Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) on agriculture, which is expected to set the tone for an Agriculture Investment Forum to be held here next month.
The meeting is not intended to be a routine one as its thrust will be different; it will look at aggressive measures to building a sustainable foundation for the agriculture sector.
Chief Executive Officer of the Barbadian Agriculture Society, James Paul; ex-Director of the Caribbean Poultry Association, Robert Best and President of the Guyana Poultry Producers Association (GPPA) Patrick deGroot are in the forefront with regard to the proposal which they hope would get endorsement and financial support from heads to carry out feasibility studies.
Speaking with this newspaper yesterday, Best noted that that the CPA is made up of about 20 members in ten Caribbean states which produce about 80% of all chicken and eggs in Caricom countries. He noted too that the association’s members own 25 feed mills in Caricom. He further stated that the price of poultry products has increased owing to many factors, including the global price of energy, foreign exchange movements, bird flu, a drought in Australia which affected production and the conversion of raw materials which are used to make animal feed into fuel.
These factors, he said, have contributed to an increase in the prices of raw material by as much as 300% over the last three years.
“Our aim is therefore to set a research agenda for the Caricom livestock fed industry to increase supply of regional produced raw materials. So we will explore feasibility and strategies which could be used to develop the production in a profitable way and if we are successful we would need thousands of acres of land to displace imports,” he said.
If such a programme comes on stream it could significantly reduce the region’s import bill of such raw materials, which is currently more than US$100 million.
“Coming out of (today’s) meeting, we hope to have clearer strategies and programmes which will receive the support of donor agencies for the research and development component. When it is clear that we could make money then the industry will take care of the expenditure,” he added.
However, Best noted that such a programme would have to receive tremendous inputs from governments.
Tracing back the reliance on broken rice as a local raw material in the past, deGroot, who is also managing director of Bounty Farm Limited, explained that producers had replaced rice with corn. He said Guyana was at a huge disadvantage since there were heavy freight costs on corn.
He told this newspaper that the proposal was raised and discussed with Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud, who, he said, has promised them that land could be made available in the Mahaica-Mahaicony-Abary Scheme for rice cultivation while a few acres in the intermediate savannahs would be allotted to grow corn.
However, he said, the land would only be given on the condition that it was used only for the identified purpose. Similar activities would be undertaken in Jamaica, Trinidad and Belize, but Guyana is the potentially largest producing venue because of the availability of land, he said. He added too that there were well-established shipping arrangements in shorter time from Guyana to Barbados and Trinidad.
Meanwhile, Paul told Stabroek News that his country faced a challenge in this regard since the demand for land was great and there was not enough available land space for extensive agriculture production, forcing the country to come up with creative responses to the increase in prices for agriculture imports. He said dismantling specific regimes and undermining development programmes was not the way to go, just for the sake of cheaper food.
In this regard, he pointed out that Barbados was looking at cassava as a raw material for animal food. He insisted that governments have a duty to assist in such proposals.
An inception workshop and field trips are being organized by the team in an effort to bring to fruition, the immediate objective. (Heppilena Ferguson)
