The Ministry of Agriculture is collaborating with a number of international organisations to again tackle and eradicate the Carambola Fruit Fly (CFF) (Bactrocera carambolae) which threatens the fruit-producing sector.
According to a Govern-ment Information Agency (GINA) press release the ministry along with the United States Department for Agriculture/Animal Plant Health and Inspectorate Service, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the Canadian Hunger Fund hosted a three-day training seminar on the Carambola Fruit Fly for technical officers within the ministry.
In his address Minister Robert Persaud told participants on the second day of the session that the matter was one of priority. “All stakeholders must appreciate the necessity of ensuring that the monitoring and response systems that form the base of all agricultural endeavours are functional and relevant to the thrust the sector has embarked upon.” The surveillance effort will aid the ministry and its agencies to detect the potential threat and help them to devise and implement measures to deal appropriately with it.
Persaud emphasised that considering the investments made to develop the sector and how heavily dependent national development is to it, all measures to reduce risks and hindrances to development must be taken. The minister pointed out that it is important to detect, prevent and treat diseases in plants. He alluded to the comprehensive agricultural diversification programme the government has embarked on with contributions from various international agencies, central to which is the development of a modern plant health system which will cost close to US$1.7M. This significant investment is necessary if the sector is to meet international standards, GINA said.
The presence of CFF in Suriname and French Guiana in the 1990s represented a major threat to the production and marketing of fruits and vegetables throughout tropical and sub-tropical Central and South America and the Caribbean. Due to the proximity of these countries to Guyana, the infestation of this plant disease was imminent. “This situation demanded immediate response by way of appropriate control measures to address the infestation, and a robust strategy to ultimately eradicate the pest from South America,” GINA said, adding that a Carambola Fruit Fly Campaign was then initiated in Guyana in 1996.
Subsequently, IICA, a specialised agency for agriculture of the Inter-American system, whose main purposes are to encourage, facilitate and support cooperation among its Member States so as to promote agricultural development and rural well-being, became a partner in Guyana’s fight against the plant pest.
In June 2001 the IICA Guyana Project started support for the development of the Guyana Agricultural Information Network Project and the Carambola Fruit Fly Surveillance Project in Guyana. In late 2000, Guyana was declared free of CFF but the pest was subsequently detected in Orealla, Region Six. A formidable response was then needed to again tackle the pest. Ongoing training of farmers and extension agents, the induction of new skilled practitioners and the procurement of necessary equipment are all part of capacity building within the wide framework of diversification and modernisation.
