As part of the government’s ongoing drive to boost agricultural production across the nation, youth and women from Beterverwagting/Triumph, East Coast Demerara will soon benefit from training in the area of smart agricultural techniques.
According to a release from the Ministry of Agri-culture, this was announc-ed by Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha during a community meeting on Satur-day, at the Beterver-wagting/Triumph Commu-nity Centre, which was a follow-up to a community outreach recently hosted by Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo.
During the meeting, the release said, Secretary of the Beterverwagting/ Triumph Community Development Council (CDC) Jason October said: “Mr Minister, I see myself as a potential farmer and envision Beterverwagting becoming a farming hub that contributes to your vision. I can see the young people of Beterverwagting getting involved in agriculture, more so in hydroponics and also shade house farming. I am one of the beneficiaries of the RAID Project and I must say thank you for that initiative. What we would like is for some new training programmes and workshops to be initiated in the community so that we can build that motivation and get young people to get more involved in farming and agriculture.”
Mustapha responded that this could be done through the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI), the release said.
“We can start that immediately. I am tasking you with organising the young people in the area. You should also get the women on board. We will work along with the CDC that is already in place. As soon as the group is ready, we can commence the training. This can begin as early as next week and will be done through NAREI. So, we’ll train you in a number of smart agriculture techniques such as hydroponics and shade house cultivation,” he was quoted as saying.
Regarding the maintenance of land already cleared for cultivation, Mustapha said that the ministry was open to engaging the CDC on this issue, as it usually engages CDCs in other areas to carry out maintenance on critical infrastructure such as dams, and canals. Further, he told farmers that the ministry will continue to work with them to execute projects aimed at stimulating production in the backlands of the Beterverwagting/Triumph area.
According to the release, several youths and single mothers will also benefit from the ministry’s ongoing Black Giant chicken programme, with an initial 20 individuals set to receive Black Giant chicks in the new week.
To assist farmers with accessing land, the minister committed to carrying out infrastructural upgrades to the access dam, as well as clearing the drainage and irrigation channels in the cultivation area. He told farmers that the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority has already commenced work to clear critical drainage canals in the area, the release said.
A team from the ministry is scheduled to meet farmers in the new week to develop a comprehensive agricultural programme for the area, the release added.
