Agriculture month
Editorial
In a speech to mark Agriculture Month, Minister of Agriculture Reepu Daman Persaud said that rice production this year is expected to be 360,000 metric tonnes, the highest ever and some 20,000 tonnes higher than last year. The problems, as has been fully ventilated, are to maintain quality and to secure markets. Sugar is targeted for 300,000 metric tonnes, the highest production for many years. Here again the emphasis in the industry's five-to-seven year strategic plan is to produce half a million tonnes of sugar per annum at a reduction in the cost of production of 30% through expanding output and the adoption of improved technologies. Speaking at Anna Regina on Saturday Minister of Fisheries, Crops and Livestock Satyadeow Sawh said that the emergence of the global economy had led to an increased recognition of the need to diversify and to engage in agro-processing industries. He referred to the many possibilities, for example, of utilising the coconut for more than producing edible oil and said that a Coconut Industry Committee had been set up to develop a programme for the rehabilitation and development of this industry. The future, he said, lay in developing a range of value added products which will produce increased income and improve the security of all those involved from cultivation through to processing and marketing. Fiscal incentives are available to private enterprise, he said. Minister Sawh referred to cashew nuts which already grow prolifically in the Rupununi Savannahs. He said a proposal is being drawn up for help from Brazil and an operation will be started using small-scale processing technologies from that country. Aquaculture is also being promoted. Water quality monitoring equipment has been purchased, the Anna Regina Fish Culture Centre is being rehabilitated, improved species of tilapia have been imported and an FAO grant has been obtained to construct a Fingerling Production and Aquaculture Demonstration Centre at Mon Repos. The minister said several persons have gone into large scale production and there is a programme to promote aquaculture in schools. Continuing his review of developments, in areas falling under his portfolio Mr Sawh said that artificial insemination continues and pasture establishment under the National Dairy Development Programme. Every effort is being made to have Guyana certified free of foot and mouth disease thus facilitating export of beef products again after a ban of some 20 years. He acknowledged the need to strengthen support services for farmers. Agriculture continues to play a vital role in our economy and the needs of the farming community need to be clearly recognised, as was recently stressed in connection with the proposed opening up of the intermediate savannahs. As Mr Sawh notes there are niche markets abroad for dried fruits, exotic spices, tropical flowers and many other items. The opportunities are there. It's all about knowhow, access to information and entrepreneurship. The government's role must be to publicise as widely as possibilities the opportunities that exist and the incentives available, to help with internal distribution (access roads, storage facilities) and to assist with the promotion of marketing, internally and overseas.
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