– to reduce in-transit spoilage of farm perishables

Farmers across the country utilizing the support services provided by the New Guyana Marketing Corporation (New GMC) will benefit from a recent $66 million investment in additional cold storage capacity designed to reduce the levels of spoilage of perishable agricultural produce in transit.

New GMC General Manager Nizam Hassan told Stabroek Business earlier that the corporation has acquired two 2-ton and two 6-ton refrigerated trucks from China to add to the current lone 2-ton truck used to transport agricultural produce. The corporation has also acquired five 40-foot refrigerated containers for the storage of perishable produce, three of which will be based in Supenaam and two at Parika. The new acquisitions were expected to arrive in Guyana this week.

Hassan told Stabroek Business that the move by the corporation to acquire additional cold storage capacity marked an initiative to respond to post-harvest losses being experienced by farmers resulting from “difficulties in maintaining the cold chain during transit.” He said that the trucks will transport agricultural produce from farms across the country to the corporation’s Pack House at Sophia and to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri for export.

Enhancing the profitability of farmers and exporters by reducing spoilage in transit is one of two significant benefits likely to be derived from the acquisition of the additional cold storage capacity. Hassan said that another concern was

the need to sustain the integrity of the country’s agricultural exports. The New GMC has signed trade protocols with four Caribbean Community importing countries – Antigua, Barbados, St Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago – under which the corporation must take responsibility for ensuring that agricultural produce exported to those countries meet certain designated health and quality standards. Under the terms of the trade protocols exported produce must be free of “notifiable pests”; must have been grown on a farm certified by the New GMC and must have been prepared for export at one of the corporation’s two Pack Houses.

Exporters of agricultural produce that benefit from handling by the New GMC, utilize its Pack Houses free of cost but pay a fee for the technical services provided at the facility. Hassan told Stabroek Business that the Ministry of Agriculture’s Plant Quarantine facility, the Customs and Trade Administration and the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit are also involved in the inspection process prior to export.

Under the terms of the trade protocols, officers from the receiving Caricom countries visit Guyana annually to inspect farms and local Pack Houses. “By and large the arrangements have worked well. There have not really been any major problems. Our farm produce have a good regional and international reputation. Our pumpkins and plantains are highly regarded on those markets. Obviously we need to be concerned about maintaining those high standards and quality if we want to retain and increase market share,” Hassan said.

Meanwhile, he said that the corporation was seeking to enhance its services to the various farming communities this year particularly through the acceleration of its marketing and business development outreach programmes which include providing training for farmers in areas such as costing and supporting them in their efforts to develop relationships with potential exporters. In addition to these services, Hassan said, the New GMC was in the process of building a local farmers database which will be used to help buyers identify sources of produce. New GMC is also collaborating with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) – funded Rural Enterprise and Agricultural Development (READ) Project and the Agricultural Export Development Project to establish an Agricultural Marketing Information System as an additional service to local farmers.
In addition, Hassan told Stabroek Business the corporation’s Guyana Shop, located below its Robb and Alexander streets secretariat, continued to play an important role in supporting the marketing efforts of farmers, agro-producers and other entrepreneurs in the agricultural sector.