To help boost agriculture while simultaneously implementing measures to tackle the high cost of plantain production in the hinterlands, the government will be distributing suckers to those farmers.
At a recent press conference, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo had disclosed that following calls from indigenous leaders for support, assistance would be offered. “The help now will come in the form of planting materials and a range of things. So we will help them to get these and then they don’t have to buy the suckers and can do it on a large scale,” Jagdeo said.
During the month of June, he said, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha will lead a team into Matthew’s Ridge, Port Kaituma and Baranita – Region One to meet farmers and finalise plans.
Additionally, he pointed out that the government was preparing to help farmers in the hinterlands cultivate a variety of other crops. Given the transportation difficulties and short shelf life of some produce, he noted that they were considering crops such as turmeric, black pepper and ginger among others.
Products with long shelf life, Jagdeo said, could reach the internal and external markets without concerns about spoilage. “We are trying to open up some markets … in the Caribbean, where they can ship directly … from the North West,” he added. “The most significant hurdle for the agricultural sector in Region One has always been transportation, particularly in moving goods to Georgetown,” he asserted.
Apart from building local economies, the initiative is to also boost food security at the community level.
In a recent report by this newspaper, varying reasons were given by vendors from the Bourda, Stabroek and Parika markets, the Survival Supermarket and a middleman for the continuing high price of plantains. They included the Black Sigatoka fungus, low supply in the face of high local demand, and the prohibitive costs of fertilisers. One farmer also suggested that unseasonal rain actually worsened wholesale and retail prices.
However, head of the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute Jagnarine Singh refuted any relationship between the fungus and prices and redirected the responsibility towards unreasonable farmers and middlemen. Singh in fact suggested that it was the farmers or middlemen who were responsible for the escalating prices.
As of yesterday, plantains were being sold at 2lbs for $500; prior they were $100 and $120 per lb.
