An assessment of efforts to develop the livestock sector with imported breeding stock is currently being done through the Ministry of Agriculture and the British High Commission to determine the possibility of bringing in Texel sheep.

According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) press release in recent years significant emphasis has been placed on improving local animal breeds and efforts have been made to import animals including the Boer goat, Black-Belly and Virginia White sheep and Brangus and Zebo cow.

Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud on Tuesday said he was optimistic about the possibilities of importing the sheep, during a meeting with British High Commissioner Fraser Wheeler and officials of the Texel Sheep Society, United Kingdom. Officials updated the minister on the ongoing assessment, which is being done by the Texel Society and the high commission with support from the ministry through the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI). The team has already inspected NARI’s breeding facilities and, according to the Society’s chief executive, the officials are very impressed. The team was scheduled to visit other areas including Rupununi and West Coast Berbice.

Wheeler pointed out that the initiative supports Guyana’s agricultural diversification thrust through which other initiatives have been undertaken in areas of aquaculture and organic production. The Texel sheep has been primarily developed for meat and is well-known in Europe and in the continents of Africa and South America as a provider of a high quality meat. NARI Director Dr Oudho Homenauth also participated at the meeting.