Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) yesterday announced that the company is currently in search of land to forge ahead with its plan to house the proposed TOPCO milk plant project for commercial scale production of fresh cow’s milk.
The company needs some 600 acres of land to set up its industrial-style farm according to its Israeli partner LR Group’s, Livestock Project Manager, Rami Ofer. The lands, he explained, will be used to house the buildings for some 500 heifers which will be imported, an administration building, solar panel power grid, and the farm.
The DDL subsidiary, Tropical Orchard Products Company Limited (TOPCO), last year signed a Memorandum of Under-standing with the group to commence feasibility and technical studies. These studies are still underway, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Komal Samaroo and TOPCO’s Managing Director Ramesh Persaud said.
At a media briefing following a presentation at the Agri-Investment Forum and Expo at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre yesterday morning, DDL’s Government Affairs Consultant, Wesley Kirton, explained they had been in conversation with the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission, and the Ministry of Agriculture to find suitable lands. And although they have not yet settled on a location, he said they have been scoping out potential areas.
“We have been in touch and visited some lands already…We have found one area that is Moblissa [along the Soesdyke/Linden Highway]…,” Kirton disclosed. However, with the lands still being underdeveloped, he told the media briefing that they are in discussions with Guyana Water Inc, and Guyana Power and Light for utilities needs and the Region 10 Regional Democratic Council on the possibility of sourcing labour should they settle on those lands along the highway.
Ofer during the presentation yesterday morning pointed out that the animals will not be on a free-range farm but rather in a confined environment equipped with temperature control for the animals to function in a comfortable environment. This approach, he explained, has been utilized globally in dairy production to ensure the energy of the animal is spent on milk production.
He added that the farming shed will be equipped with irrigation and wind blowing systems which will act as a cooling mechanism for the animals should the temperature be too hot.
Additionally, the company has not settled on the breed of cattle they will be using for the project but during the presentation explained that they are looking at different types which are suitable for dairy production.
“So there are many options but we just want to make sure the breed we are going to use is going to be highly productive because we want to maximise production and minimise space,” Ofer explained.
Moreover he acknowledged that they have not worked out the cost at which the fresh milk will be retailed but stated that the milk once pasteurized will have a shelf life of six months.
The initiative, DDL said, is one that falls in line with CARICOM’s commitment to reducing its food importation bill by 25% by 2025. The Chairman also stated that it is their vision to utilise Guyana’s production capabilities to feed the region.
Noting that their approach to the dairy sector is similar to the TOPCO line of juices with their production facilities and local market distribution network, Samaroo said they will exploit their knowledge of the markets gleaned from the exportation of their products, to have the dairy products available in the countries across the region.
Ofer further explained that in a bid to prevent manure pollution, they will be collecting the manure to treat it and spread it along their fields to improve the production of the forage crops, which will be used to feed the animals.
“The forage will be harvested and stored and brought to the animals table so that they don’t have to go out and waste any energy searching for food. In this way we can produce more milk from the smaller unit of production,” he explained.
He added that apart from creating approximately 70 full-time employment opportunities, they will also be engaged in retailing calves and older cattle to local farmers. This initiative he added, can create a spin-off effect and develop the beef production industry.
“This farm that we are establishing will also involve local communities and local farmers. We will establish contract farming of food supply in certain quantities and by having male cows born on site… they will be sold to the local farmers to extend their beef cattle local capacity and capability.” He also informed that the production life of a cow is between four to five years.
DDL yesterday said that once the studies are completed and they are able to identify the appropriate lands, they plan to be in production in two years’ time.
“There are many variables which we need to quantify depending on the location and stuff like that. It is often we would have put the technical feasibility and move to the financial feasibility then we will get the acquisition to see what the total cost of investment is. But I know it will resemble millions of US dollars and I cannot give you that figure at this point,” DDL’s Chairman and CEO said while responding to question on the cost of the investment when asked by this newspaper.
Since the signing of the MoU a year ago, the company said it has been engaged in planning and laying the foundation work through consultation and meeting with stakeholders to have a solid plan for operations in place.
“This is the third visit by an official from the LR Group so it is not that the project has been dormant but we have had a lot of consultations going on. We have been looking at functional numbers and we have gone past looking at equipment what is available here and what could be imported,” Kirton said as he pointed out that even though they have been silent on the project they are functioning within their timeline.
In June last year, the two companies signed a MoU for the undertaking of a feasibility study for the establishment of a commercially viable dairy farming operation.
According to DDL, Israel is considered a global leader in the agriculture sector, including dairy farming and the project is being designed to utilise best practices and the latest state-of-the art technology.
A technical team from Israel was scheduled to visit Guyana early this year to assess and make recommendations on land selection for the dairy farm and a structure for the participation of private farmers in the process.
In April last year, the company had said it would be importing milk powder for its pasteurised milk processing plant until Guyana has an “organized dairy sector.”
“We are not set up for local milk because there isn’t an organized dairy sector here in Guyana, so no, we will not be using local cow’s milk. We will import the reconstituted milk for that,” Samaroo had told Stabroek News in April, when asked for an update on the project. “Well, until there is that organised dairy sector,” he added, when asked about possibility of switching in the future. By August of that year, the company announced it was looking at dairy farming.
Meanwhile, DDL reminded that the MoU also provides for the implementation of strategies to increase the supply of fruits and vegetables from local farmers through the provision of support services that promote best practices in crop selection, cultivation, disease control, harvesting, packaging and transportation to DDL’s TOPCO plant at Diamond, East Bank Demerara.
It also provides for jointly pursuing other commercially viable projects in Guyana and the rest of the Caribbean Community that fit into the development priorities of member states and the region’s efforts to reduce its food import bill and ensure food security.
