EXPORTS of fresh produce from the Central Packing Facility (CPF) at Sophia in Georgetown increased by 13 per cent between January and June this year, in comparison to the corresponding period last year, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported.
The report said approximately 475 tons were exported for the first half of 2003, 57 tons more than the comparative 2002 period.
General Manager of New Guyana Marketing Corporation (NGMC), Mr. Nizam Hassan said the export was in two categories of non-traditional agricultural products, fresh and processed.
He said the fresh range includes boulanger, plantain, squash, awara, banana, mango, pepper, bora, genip, lime, avocado pears, grapefruit, passion fruit, tomato, eddoe and cassava and among the processed are jam, jelly, dry thyme, pepper sauce and mango achar.
Hassan said there was a decline in processed exports, such as crude coconut oil and copra when the first six months of 2003 are compared with those in 2002.
He said, generally, there has been an increase in all fresh produce exported to Barbados, some by as much as five and ten tons, boulanger, cabbage, bora and eddoe included.
According to him, pineapple exports from the CPF to Barbados rose by 16 per cent in the first six months of 2003, in comparison to the same period last year and the volume of pumpkin by 95 per cent, moving from 27 tonnes between January and June 2002 to 52 tonnes during the same time span in 2003.
Hassan said statistics show that Barbados imported more boulanger, cucumber, eddoe, bora, cabbage, lime and watermelon in the same six months period this year than last.
However, he is optimistic that overall exports of non-traditional produce would rise about 15 per cent by year end, above the 2002 figure.
“It could be greater but we do not expect it to be lower, because there are a number of initiatives in place…,” Hassan said.
GINA said exports of fresh and processed non-traditional produce to regional and extra-regional markets earned G$721M in 2002, from Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and St Lucia regionally and Canada, United Kingdom, France and the United States extra-regionally.
Hassan said steps are being taken to arrange more flights, which transport produce to Barbados, so that the volume could be greater.