-despite gov’t investment in production
Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha has expressed his dissatisfaction with the increase in the price of brackish water shrimp despite the heavy government input in boosting production.
According to a Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) press release on Saturday, Mustapha informed shrimp farmers at a meeting at the Albion Sports Complex, Region Six that while the brackish water shrimp pond programme was approximately 75 percent completed and that the industry is likely to experience further growth, the price for brackish water shrimp has also increased. This, he noted, should not be the case.
“So far, we were able to complete about 75 percent of the ponds. Initially, we had a list of about 80 farmers from Region Six. This was for phase one of the project. We added some additional farmers to the list who will be a part of phase two of the project. When we’ve completed phase one, we’ll start work on the additional ponds,” the release quoted Mustapha as saying.
However, Mustapha expressed concern at the increase in price for the shrimp. Mustapha said that “We are investing a lot of money; taxpayers’ money; to develop these ponds but the consumers are not receiving any benefits. Before the project, one bucket of shrimp was being sold for just about $25,000. Now, I’m being told it is being sold for as much as $45,000. This should not be the case and we cannot continue like that. So, this is something we’ll be looking at because we are assisting you but we also need the consumers to benefit from this initiative,” he declared.
The MoA release noted that in 2023, Guyana earned approximately $1.8 billion from the approximately 815,496 kilogrammes of brackish shrimp production due to government’s heavy focus on increased food production and economic growth. This represented a 49 percent increase when compared to the 548,900 kilogrammes produced over the same period in 2022. Mustapha stated that the production of brackish water shrimp, which is being conducted along the Corentyne Coast, has continued to produce massive outcomes since its commencement. He also said that the project will soon commence in Regions Five and Two and noted that the Vannamei Prawns project has also commenced in Region Five. Government, the release said, will soon produce feed and larvae for the industry to improve the quality and quantity of the shrimp.
According to the MoA release, timely interventions in the sector by the administration have resulted in increases in brackish water shrimp with production at 98,000 kilogrammes per month. The MoA release said that prior to government’s interventions approximately 9,000 kilogrammes of brackish shrimp was being produced monthly. Mustapha, the release said, informed that additional machines were procured to assist with executing the project and that an additional machine will be procured for the project next year.
