Farmers at Cane Farm in Mocha are the most recent beneficiaries of the Ministry of Agriculture’s sponsored Rural Agricultural Infrastructure Development (RAID) programme after receiving 300 coconut plants.
RAID is a Caribbean Development Fund-backed project which was developed to further foster growth in Guyana’s agricultural sector.
According to a Department of Public Information (DPI) release, Mocha Extension Officer, Mitzie Barker had disclosed that the plants distributed, are among several of the crops requested by the farmers. One of the recipients, Delvin Thompson, in expressing his gratitude stated, “I am extremely thankful for the coconut plants because of several reasons. One being that I wasn’t under any expense to buy plants and now I don’t have to worry about floods as before.”
Thompson, who has been working his fields for over five years declared that his farm has developed greatly and any future assistance from the government will be welcomed.
Another farmer, Cyrus Thomas, who has been planting for almost a decade, echoed Thompson’s sentiments, “All the assistance that we are receiving we appreciate it.”
The release added that as part of the RAID programme, farmers in the village of Buxton had benefitted from the distribution of planting materials, while technical support was provided to planters in the communities of Triumph on the East Coast of Demerara and Ithaca in Region Five.Those districts received aid in the establishment and the expansion of livestock production.
The Agriculture Ministry is continuing its call for interested residents to join the RAID initiative to push co-operative farming.
