-farmers point to flooding, pests
Stakeholders in the local coconut industry were urged to examine their options as they raised their concerns about the sub-sector at a workshop on Tuesday.
Dindyal Permaul
The meeting was the first in a series aimed at revitalizing the industry, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. About 20 participants were present as Agriculture Minister, Robert Persaud spoke about government’s intention to reverse the inadequate attention given to the sub-sector. The Minister said that the decline of the local coconut business was due in part to a global decline of the industry, inadequate infrastructure and little work done on research and development, a statement from the Ministry said.
Issues of concern such as diseases, drainage, labour, and technology were raised by participants, who included coconut estate owners, farmers, processors and exporters of coconuts and coconut-based products.
Several years ago Stabroek News had reported on some of the very problems facing the industry and another major one was the age of the coconut trees and the absence of significant replanting.
In Pomeroon, one of the major issues is drainage, said Andron Alphonso. The area is one of the major coconut producing areas in the country. Speaking with Stabroek News on Tuesday, Alphonso- an executive with conglomerate, Afro Alphonso and Sons Enterprises, explained that almost every December, tremendous flooding takes place due to a combination of rainfall and high tides. He asserted that the mouth of the River should be dredged. Dredging of the Pomeroon has been on the agenda for several years.
His company operates a 700 acres coconut estate and he stated that labour shortage is also an issue. He also pointed out that the continuous export of unprocessed coconuts is not good for the industry. Alphonso stated that operators in the sector can work with government to develop value added products and process the raw materials. Additionally, Alphonso said that diseases, particularly ‘coconut caterpillar’ are a problem. He noted that the Ministry had recommended a solution but he said that they have tested it and “it doesn’t work”. More studies need to be done, he added.
Meantime, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dindyal Permaul, noting that they need many things, told the participants to lobby for these. He said that the industry has to begin examining its options as regards technology, economies of scale and looking at different revenue streams. He urged that the farmers look at the business in a smarter way pointing to options such as contract farming. Permaul noted that India had consented to assist with technical help in the industry.
According to the PS, they had solved many of the problems spoken about many years ago but the “resolve to deal with the issue is not there”. The Ministry and farmers should work together, he declared while pointing out that farmers have not begun to tap into the complexities and diversification streams in the industry.
High yields
William Thomas, a farmer from Coverden on the East Bank Demerara spoke of a reluctance to invest because farmers were not getting high yields. He said that drainage has been an issue in the area but noted that the Ministry has a programme in the district at present. The farmer queried whether the Ministry could send personnel to advise on the sector and what other crops they can grow. Farmers need expert advice on how to move forward, he underlined, pointing out that some plants are not healthy.
Other problems that were raised by participants included the yellowing of palms and low-producing coconut species. Several short term activities to tackle the constraints identified were outlined. It was noted that farmers need to mechanize and they would have to organize and re-orient their plantations to do so.
Permaul had advised the formation of a body which would look out for the interest of the industry. Farmers can benefit a lot, if they get themselves organized, he stated. A committee was formed.
Director of the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI), Dr. Oudho Homenauth, meantime, noted that a nursery will be established, initially at Hope Estate.
In its statement, the Ministry reported Persaud as stating that during the past 14 months, exports of coconuts and coconut-based products had increased 100%. He urged the workshop to develop a practical work programme as the ministry is willing to support various stakeholders. The Minister stated that it is the intention of the government to allocate more resources towards the coconut industry and to link to the wider agricultural diversification thrust.
Guyana is currently pursuing support from India, and several South American countries to assist in this effort especially to get new varieties. The Minister pointed to recent investments in the industry including canned coconut milk and a number of coconut water bottling plants. Also, he said that there is interest in other coconut-based products and this may be the right time for estate owners and farmers to relook at the industry seriously, according to the statement.
Is this really the best in terms of innovation that this government is capable? Why not while at it import a colony of monkeys to pick the coconuts and feed them with bananas grown close to the coconut trees? This is idiotic and unworthy of kindergarden toddlers.
BORAPORK, That is what is happenning to government leadership all over the third world countries. These boys are academically brilliant and qualified by the western educational systems. But they have been trained to think inside a box.
It is not unlike a gold fish in a tank. The fish has all the necessary skills and requirements to survive in an aquatic environment, it sees a world outside of the glass enclosure but can never venture outside of its little world.
All of this is not the fault of the academic. They are not allowed to venture outside of their learned set of principles and skill sets. They will be laughed at and condemned by their peers. They will be marginalized and even fired by their bosses who will first ask which part of the book of parctice and dicipline states that they can do that.
So what is their final and cya conclusion? Lets send for the foreign expert. Gotcha again sucka, That’s how the system was geared to work my friend.
That is how the western academic sytem was set up. You pay them to sit in a classroom for 5 to 10 years then go back to your country only to find that your hands are really tied unless you decide to pay their expert to come tell you how it should be done. Catch them going and catch them coming, That’s the American way.
Come to think of it I do not feel so bad that I decided to spend the last 20 years of my life sitting at the bar guzzling cheap shots of rum and coke. I can go back to my country tomorrow and rock the boat with innovative experimental development in a number of fields.
I can guarantee that because even if I decide to spend a great deal of time in Lusius rumshop with a bunch of bar flies, it would still be impossible for me to produce the kind of non performance these guys are so good at.
Joe.
….. yo ! Joe ! how u doin breds ??? i’m enjoying days of summer doin golf ,,, and why i stopped by here ,, is bcos of lucius — very popular water hole — i know i drank there several times in the 70’s ,,only now i can’t remeber where it was ,, i know well the one that was at haley and durban streets ! dat aside ,, i feel de same as u do ,, and i have to agree wid u ,, 110% abt dem in GUYANA who have been indoctrinated to think only in the box ! i mentioned this some few days ago ,, abt universities ,, and all they do is teach how to think ,, albeit in de box ! where as ,, u and i know dat well enough to have inculcated our own ways of being able to exist outside of the box ,, which is why ,, i used the IADB[IDB] to kill de “windfarm” at hope beach de moron whose idea it was ,, took on the Arubans ,, to guide dem ,, Aruba ??? ,, an island dat could fit on de parade ground ,, an still gat enough on the fringes to set up a fence pon de perimeter !… wellll a lil bit of shooting de bull !…
but that’s what it is ,, in GUYANA ,, there is nothing innovative happening in GUYANA ,, whatever is happenning ,, it’s so insignificant ,, that it’s not noticed ,,,,, or hardly worth mention !…. i spoke some time back abt the prevalence of kidney malfunction by a large ratio of the population ,, and just like the President publicly declared that it would not be feasible to have the windfarm ,, bcos of
the inconsistent windflow ,, he is also ,, in condemnation of mercury in the mining sector ! ,,,,, Dr.Ramcharan ,,, former chancellor of UG wrote abt the pending emergency for the removal of the coastland dwellers ,, i guess ,, now dat an “academic” has spoken ,, they will pay attention ,, i have been telling them since 2000 to pack dem bags ,, but ,, i’m not an acad…….
well i like u ,, i used to deh in lucius ,, an waggon wheel ,, an belvedere ,, an tropicana ,, an sip an chat ,, and CCWU , an peg ,, an poinsettia ,, palm court ,, an mo !
later Joe ah gat to go ! ,,, have some golf buddies i’m meetin for friday nite drinks at the neighbour sports bar ,, an shoot some mo bull ! vaya con dios ,,, mi amigo !!!!!!!!!!
Bora, we dont have to import, we have a lot at home, and that could be supplemented by a good many among the diaspora .. who have learned to write, over recent years.. so in every respect, guyana is well taken care of.. our needs are catered for in every respect…, however, thanks again for your thought provoking, suggestions..
BORA, don’t you think they should start with the monkeys that they have in guyana? also, what effect does coconut oil have, healthwise?
….GY bwoy …. ah know yuh din aks me ,, but ah gon throw meh 2 pennies in de crucible ,, research done so far ,, to my knowledge ,, on coconut oil is inconclusice ,, some say best for health/heart some say NO ! much like “MSG” ! ,, but i feel any palm oil should be healthy !……
Redd Foxx said it best ,, “it’s better to know what ure dying from ,, than to be dying and not know why” ,,, i used to love to eat Betty’s black puddin !….. now i wear scars to prove ,, too much of 1 thing is good fuh nutten ,, in every thing be moderate !…
Roberties persaud still working for this government?
They still paying 3000 USD dollars for him to live on state welfare?
I wonder if that cash went to the subsector how much it would help!
These are all fringe benifits that goes with this position samaroo,,,I smell some jealousy here…by the way you suppose to be the Shadow Agriculture Minister for the AFC,,,isn’t that so????
Fringe benefits on the back of the taxpayer? where a minister can sell his house and move into govt housing?
1. There is a glut in the corn industry in America.
2. America spreads propaganda that coconut oil is bad for your health.
3. Guyana neglects coconut industry.Coconut trees willfully destroyed.
4. Guyana imports corn oil.
5. Coconut industry dies.
6. America “rediscovers” that coconut oil is good.
7. Guyana left holding the bag.
8. American farmers happy.
Where there is no vision the people perish. Just like the scrapping of the train by the PNC, this visionless government is guilty of poor leadership.
Who civilize and who is the jackass.
Ahhh…that’s why UG needs to do more research. I myself have heard mixed reviews about coconut oil. That’s what happen when a country leaves its science and research for the advanced world to do. What is the truth? Science solves this…and UG MUST do this kind of science. Anyhow, if we don’t use it to cook we can always use it as bio-fuel. Willie Nelson is busy promoting the latter’s use among truck drivers in the US.
the point is not that, the imported corn oil is cheaper, and it’s foreign. “mentality at play here guys”
Coconut oil and cane sugar has been vilified in Western markets due to cheaper artificial substitutes. It is all about marketing cheap dangerous food products as health alternatives while vilifying natural alternatives.
Take Conola oil for instance. This is the latest health conscious oil product to hit the market. Canola is the acronym for Canadian Oil Company, so there is really no such thing as Conola oil. It is all a marketing deception.
Canola oil is made from the seed of the rapeseed plant and was produced for the lubrication of engine parts, but these imaginative marketers said wait a minute we can rebrand this product and sell it as a low calorie product to the dumb TV educated consumer.These products have nothing to do with health, it has everything to do with profit.
Some health experts are now saying that coconut oil is far superior to all of the other oil alternatives because it does not produce carcinogens when heated to high temperatures. Hydrogenated oils are produced by splitting the hydrogen molecule in order to keep it fresh and longer lasting on the supermarket shelf and that is where the danger also lies. Health experts say that the isolated molecules bond and form free radicals in the body.
Coconut oil has none of these side effects, the down side is that it goes to “sleep” in relatively low temperatures and tends to give off that oily odor.
I have been to coconut estates and have seen the workers peel the coconuts and throw the shells into the canals to be washed out to sea. They need to use mulchers which cost a few hundred bucks and mulch the shells and use it back as natural fertilizer on the coconut beds. The trees will then produce more.
The ministry of Agriculture need to start a pilot project to use coconut oil in their diesel vehicles and then demonstrate to the rest of the country that it works as good as diesel oil. The coconut producers will get an immediate incentive to produce more coconuts.
The people of Guyana and the rest of the third world has got to realize that we are caught up in more than just incompetent leadership. We are in a war between the rich and poor and we do not realize it yet.
Listen to this video by Argentenian Economist, Adrian Salbuchi explain how the world and its economic masters operate to control the rest of the world. Look around you and see if this is not exactly how the world operates today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yfla9aNomrc
Joe.
Joe. Thanks for the technicial details. I saw first hand, the distruction of the coconut trees on the East Coast Demerara, West Coast Berbice and the Corentyne. Where ignorance is bliss it’s folly to be wise. I also enjoy my rum and coke.
hey joe! It’s every part of the coconut trees is usable. the shell and haux is excellent fuel for anything. you get shelter and broom from the leaves and you get timber from the trunk. ONe of the biggest problem guyana has with the coconut industries is flooding. which affect harvesting, transportation and with flooding difinitely stop the modernization of the industries. YOu have to make harvesting, processing and transportation easier.
The video is a 2 part series, you should listen to both before forming any conclusions.
Joe.
“Additionally, Alphonso said that diseases, particularly ‘coconut caterpillar’ are a problem.” A problem? I don’t mean to be funny, but I’ve seen a few television documentaries that show people in China eating dog meat, rat meat, fried scorpions, snakes, etc. Some PNC folks would recall that President Forbes Burnham was offered alcoholic beverage with a tiny snake in the glass when he visited China in the early 1980s. Why not can the coconut caterpillar and export it to China? There’s a potentially big market there.
excellent point in marketing
yasuman71, seriously have you seen that fat guy Andrew Zimmern on tv take one of those coconut caterpillar critters and slip in into his mouth. He swears that it tastes like chicken.
Meet me on the coast any day of the week guys. Walk with 20 bucks give me a rum with some lime and dare me to swallow one of those slimey coconut critters and see what happens. I’ll rid the entire coconut plantation of caterpillars in about a month. Plus you guys will have to pay up. LOL
Joe.
1982 hope estate ecd. LFSB was paying $3.00 gy. to pick and peel 100 nuts.
YES>>>every part of a coconut tree is useful but Guyana is way caught up with other first class countries and their so call information on health issues,etc.
Husk -used to mix with other fibers to make stuffing,a good washing sponge and also used as fuel.
Shell -use as fuel, makes buttons, ornaments,etc.
Branches -brooms,& is good source of shelter for back kitchen,,,lol
Heart of the Tree -it is canned and sell as a source of food.
Twig -make a darn good cricket bat,,,good old days.
Twig -is stripped to make craft as well as good quality rope.
Coconut Water -used for making casreep, and has a higher value of vitamin C than an orange.
Not forgetting soaps,good quality oil that is good for your hair, skin and cooking. Also in India the oil is used as a bio fuel. So as we can see there are so many things we can gain form a coconut palm,they need to put their brains to work.SERIOUSLY.
Y’all lie so much nothing that you spout can be believed. As soon as we read, “according to the Ministry”, get ready for the BS.
In one sentence Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dindyal Permaul states, “they had solved many of the problems spoken about many years ago but the “resolve to deal with the issue is not there”.
That sounds like spin on ineptitude.
If you have solved the problem related to the growth of the coconut industry, why hasn’t the resolution been implemented. Last time I checked, if you solve a problem, it no longer exists, for you would have implemented a resolution….BS
Also, just to point out the short-sightedness of the related Ministry, the story states, “about 20 participants were present”, then in the very next paragraph, “Issues of concern such as diseases, drainage, labour, and technology were raised by participants, who included coconut estate owners, farmers, processors and exporters of coconuts and coconut-based products”.
If you have twenty people at a workshop made up of owners, farmers (aren’t they owners too), processors, and exporters, could someone please explain to me how you can gather enough data from this minute sample pool, then make decisions to reverse the decline of an entire industry within Guyana.
Short sighted at best!
Too Much starting over and over we are stuck in a time zone Recently a blogger stated there is everything in Guyana thanks to the administration when there is so much drugs, who is thinking about planting coconuts? the generation of the planting era are too old now the young ones have no time with that .
….it’s called the “now culture” ,,, an mek no mistake abt it ,, it will evolve ,, and with it will come a new valus system ,, if de “now culture” can be called any such !….
de platform of de “now culture” is “mindlessness” ,,, everything is “a accident” ,, “ah din guh fuh duh it” “ah sarri” an “ah din know dah waz gon happen” ! an soan ,,,,, but de music that induces the mindlessness is by the already mindless an uneducated who find pleasure being in the “now culture an abuse de alcohol “wid” de drugs !….
Disraeli said in the “house of commons’ on the 15th of june 1874 this ,,,, ” Upon the “EDUCATION” of the people of this country ,,, the fate of this country depends” ,, !
seems like he said it yesterday ,, in reference to GUYANA !