Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha on Tuesday April 18, disclosed at an outreach at Ann’s Grove, East Coast Demerara, that his Ministry is cultivating corn and soya. He also government is constructing drying and storage facilities for the corn and soya. The facilities are being built at Tacama Landing along the Berbice River. The facilities are expected to be completed within the next two to three months, said the Minister.
The minister said the new facilities will provide employment opportunities and primarily boost the nation’s food sector.
Minister Mustapha noted that the government spends almost $60 million to import the two products. He said the country will produce enough for domestic consumption and export. He said: “We [government] have started the production of corn and soya in the intermediate savannah, we started to build facilities there, and in another two-three months, we’ll have those facilities complete. We want to produce more…that is why we are expanding…those food we have been importing, we want to start producing them locally and that is why we ventured into new crops”.
The minister also announced that government will build a wharf for easy river access to the land under cultivation, and that will provide cheap transport to private farmers. The Minister said good has been increasing funding in food production with budget allocated almost tripled in three years to G $32 billion.
The Minister is confident that Guyana will be self sufficient in food production in two years.