An agro-packaging and export facility, which according to the Ministry of Agriculture cost $89 million, was formally opened at Parika yesterday and can pack a whopping 40,000 lbs of produce in a day.
“…This modern agro-packaging and export facility heralds the beginning of Agriculture Month,” Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud said yesterday afternoon. “…twelve months ago the agriculture sector had to change…we had to reposition our position… today this facility opens tremendous opportunities we did not see two years ago.”
The facility, which is deeply embedded in the ministry’s ‘Grow More Food’ campaign, is expected to prepare and package an estimated 40,000 pounds of produce for export in a 24-hour period.
The minister stressed that all produce would be processed at the facility free of cost to farmers and exporters. However, for every pound of produce processed, he explained, the ministry will incur a $4 processing cost.
According to Persaud, the fact that the ministry will not pass on the processing cost to farmers and exporters reflects its seriousness in investing so that farmers would be given the space, incentive and support they need. He further encouraged all farmers to “take full advantage” of the facility.
Nizam Hassan, General Manager of the New Guyana Marketing Corporation (NGMC), during his address at the event informed the audience that work on the infrastructure of the new packaging facility commenced in December 2006. The structure, he explained, was completed in April.
The Parika facility is the second of its kind. In 2001 the first packaging facility was opened in Sophia and is still in operation.
Several women, employees of the new Parika packaging facility, said that farmers will not have the trouble of transporting their produce to Sophia.
Further, they noted that they were happy the facility had been opened as it has provided employment for them and they will now be closer to their families.
“It will be a tremendous boost for us,” farmer Nazim Mohamed said. He explained that farmers from Region Three have in the past lost markets because they were not able to access a packaging and exporting facility that would prepare the amount of produce needed for export.
Farmers were also warned by the minister that a large quantity of their produce was being damaged by poor post-harvest handling, thereby reducing the country’s competitiveness on the international market.
The facility, the minister said, “can’t do magic” and cannot reverse the damage done to produce by poor post-harvest handling. The international market, the minister observed, is “choosy, discerning and sophisticated” and demands quality. “…they put premium on quality,” Persaud told the farmers.
A training course, according to the minister, should commence in December at the Guyana School of Agriculture in Mon Repos and will be offered to farmers free of cost. The aim of the course is to better educate farmers on how to improve their trade and equip them with the knowledge they need to tackle both local and international markets.
Several booths were set up at the opening ceremony yesterday by the NGMC, Guyana Rice Development Board and the Ministry of Agriculture Extension Services in Region Three. A range of vegetables, fruits and canned products were on sale and information booklets on various issues were available to farmers.
