A company by the name of Farmlands Guyana Inc is gearing up to cultivate 1,000 hectares of land in the Tacama Savannah, Berbice with corn and soya beans, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
A release from the ministry said that Investors from Farmlands Guyana Inc met with Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha yesterday at his Regent Street office to discuss operations as it gears up to begin work on an initial 1,000 hectares of land in the Tacama Savannah.
During the meeting, it was disclosed that 700 hectares will be used to cultivate soya and the remaining 300 hectares will be used to grow corn. The company is expected to begin cultivation in November and hopes to increase its acreages to some 24,000 hectares in the coming years. No information was provided on the origins of the investors.
Last September, a technical team comprising four technicians from Argentina and other officials from the company visited the area to conduct an assessment of the land to determine the logistics involved in transporting inputs and outputs, water sources and irrigation solutions, soil types, existing infrastructure such as roads, storage and drying facilities, varieties and types of inputs required to successfully grow corn and soya bean.
This is the second group of investors who have set out on developing the industry to supply inputs for the production of feed for the livestock industry, the release noted.
Mustapha said that the government has already invested hundreds of millions of dollars to support the industry. So far works have been moving apace on the construction of facilities such as three 3000-tonne silos and one 80-tonne-per-hour drying tower at the Tacama Landing.
In 2022, some $887 million was budgeted to undertake infrastructural works needed to support the large-scale cultivation of corn and soya bean.
Of that amount, $426 million was budgeted for the rehabilitation of 47 kilometers of a vital Ituni to Tacama farm-to-market road, beginning from the junction of the Linden/ Ituni road and heading east towards the Berbice River. In 2021, some $102 million was spent to begin rehabilitation works on the road.
Mustapha said with the addition of another company in the large-scale cultivation of corn and soya beans, Guyana was well on its way to meeting its target of 25,000 acres in the next two years.
