Local farmers are expected to have increased access to various varieties of coconut seedlings shortly after several were selected to manage demonstration nurseries that are likely to evolve into commercial entities.
According to the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI), through a multi-agency collaboration, several farmers attached to the Stakeholder Platform, operating in Regions Two, Four, Five and 10 were selected to manage the nurseries. The agencies involved NAREI, the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI), and the International Trade Centre (ITC). The agencies, with financing from the European Union and African, Caribbean and Pacific Secretariat, have taken up the mantle of resuscitating Guyana’s coconut industry.
Chief Executive Officer of NAREI Dr Oudho Homenauth met on Thursday with CARDI’s Country Representative Dr Cyril Roberts and International Consultant of ITC Ben Morrison to discuss activities involved in building a coconut germplasm in Guyana.