The Ministry of Agriculture’s Pesticides and Toxic Chemicals Control Board (PTCCB) on Tuesday distributed 100 storage cabinets to farmers across the country.
This was disclosed in a Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) release on Tuesday which said that the distribution exercise was held at the Board’s office in Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara.
The release said that the project began in 2013 and over 300 pesticide storage cabinets were distributed to farmers in regions Two, Three, Four, Five, Six and Ten by the end of 2016. It was re-launched in 2020. Chairman of the PTCCB, Dr. Leslie Munroe said that one of the Board’s mandates was to ensure substances that are considered toxic are used and stored responsibly and that the Board is currently working to introduce other pest management tools to farmers across the country.
“Pesticides, as we all know, are poisonous. Our mandate is to ensure that these substances are used responsibly, to minimize the use of those substances that are considered highly toxic, and to introduce the use of those that are considered less toxic. One of the aims we have is to introduce or expand integrated pests management to farmers, which involves the use of other pest management tools”, he said.
Registrar of the PTCCB, Trecia Davis said: “Sound chemicals management is the management of these chemicals throughout the life cycle; that is from import to storage to use. During my years as an inspector, I had a lot of experience seeing how pesticides were stored when farmers purchase them for use and it gave me goose bumps. Yes, these chemicals are of significant importance to the agriculture sector in Guyana but they are also very dangerous”.
