The call for improved infrastructure in the Intermediate Savannahs was one of the main concerns raised with Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud yesterday when he visited the Dubulay Ranch.
Persaud and Brazilian Ambassador to Guyana, Arthur Meyer, along with a team of agricultural specialists led by Director of NARI Dr Oudho Homenauth travelled to the ranch to examine the progress of a project that sees corn and soya bean seeds being grown, processed and packaged to be sent overseas on a small scale.
Dubulay Ranch is located approximately 70 miles south of Georgetown along the Berbice River. The ranch falls within the boundaries of the Immediate Savannahs- an area in the northeast of Guyana, immediately south of the Coastal Plains, approximately 160 km from the Atlantic Ocean.
The ranch is currently managed by Alex Mendes, who has been doing so since 1987. The ranch dates back to 1976 when his parents managed to lease the land and decided to settle there. Since then the ranch has been transformed, having once been a tourist resort but in recent times its focus has been on livestock and crops farming, along with other small agricultural based projects.
The project involving the corn and soya beans seeds is not a commercial one, as Alan Shambaugh one of the persons involved in this project explained. He told this newspaper that this project is basically one where they are performing experiments and doing research. Shambaugh explained that the group is part of an Iowa-based one which specializes in distributing seeds to residents in the USA, in order to help with farming during the winter. He said that this project has been going on for about four years and has been relatively successful so far. He explained that while efforts are being concentrated on corn and soya beans, he did not rule out the possibility of other projects being developed. He said that the team had experimented with sorghum in the past but this had been abandoned.
Shambaugh told this newspaper that although commercializing the sector was on the cards, some basic infrastructure needed to be put in place first, and this included roads that would facilitate the easy transport of goods.
Adding to what Shambaugh said, Mendes opined that commercializing the industry would require much capital especially when considering the location of the site.
Minister Robert Persaud urged Mendes to draft a proposal and approach private sector employees to partner with him. The Minister promised that the Government would lend their support in any way they could have. He said that hopefully certain infrastructural remedies could be implemented including the refurbishing of the Ituni to Linden Road.
Meanwhile the Minister suggested that while some projects had taken off in the Intermediate Savannah, not enough progress was being made.
He said that 10, 000 acres have already been allocated to various persons with the intention that the land would be utilized beneficially but said that moves will be made to get some of these lands back so that they can be better utilized.
