Five years ago, a group of farmers plying their trade in the Central Mahaicony village of Perth responded to the encouragement of the Ministry of Agriculture to band themselves into a collective in order to benefit from support services that were already being made available to other groups of farmers across the country.
The Central Mahaicony, Perth Farmers Association, the product of that initiative, comprises more than 20 farmers and Chair-person of the Association Gloria Adams says that while transforming their respective agricultural pursuits into thriving commercial ventures has been a challenge, working together has had its advantages.
By and large, the Ministry of Agriculture has been as good as its word. Members of the association have benefited from several training programmes organised by the Guyana School of Agriculture at Mon Repos, including training in