Dear Editor,
Permit me to contribute to a response made by Ms Kathleen Whalen to a letter published in your Wednesday edition dated March 28, 2007 titled “An Agricultural Programme is needed for Region Ten”.
I would like to outline some of the activities the Ministry of Agriculture is engaged in in Region Ten:
A major focus in Region 10 has been on agro-industrial development of the intermediate savannahs. The Ministry of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Research Institute continues to operate from the Ebini station, where farmers from the Berbice riverain communities access seed material such as cowpea, corn, etc. This station also serves as a reservoir or genebank for plant genetic resources. Current accessions include cowpea, peanut, mango, cashew, sweet potato, coconut and sorghum.
The National Agricultural Research Institute is working collaboratively with investors in the Savannahs by providing technical assistance, planting materials, etc. Most recently the Boer breeding bucks (goats) that were made available to the farming community originated from the Savannah.
The Ministry of Agriculture has also worked in conjunction with LEAP in providing training to Region 10 farmers in various aspects of crop production. Farmers in Region 10 were also trained in various aspects of post-harvest handling and small scale agro-processing.
In addition, drip irrigation demonstration plots have been established at Canvas City and West Watooka on farmers’ fields. The aim is to promote year round vegetable production as well as to improve production and productivity. These have been very successful to date. The harvests of tomatoes, bora and cabbage are testimony to the success of the project. In addition to our fixed presence, regular and routine visits are made by specialized research and extension staff.
The Ministry of Agriculture’s research arm NARI has initiated a project to plant fat pork as a means of revegetating barren area. This project is being done in collaboration with the Farmers Association and Schools.
For the past two years, NARI in collaboration with the GGMC has initiated a project to revegetate the North East Kara Kara mined out site. The planting of guava and orchard crops has commenced.
In an effort to improve the provision of extension services, an Extension Unit will be established to enhance the delivery of extension services to beneficiaries (farmers, farmers’ groups NGOs etc). The focus of the new Unit will be to ensure that agricultural and veterinary services are readily available to the agricultural production fraternity to optimize production.
Approximately $114M will be spent this year in the area of extension.
Activities of the unit will be supported through the establishment of IT services, in all ten regions. Ten kiosks will be established in the main agricultural centres to provide farmers with easier access to information that will enhance their productivity and market intelligence.
Another key feature of this unit would be the appointment of extension agents. These extension agents would be analogous to community health workers and would be assigned to specific areas. They will be provided with the necessary training to equip them to deal with the specific needs of the communities to which they are assigned, thereby supplementing the work of the extension officers.
Meanwhile, on the issue of drainage and irrigation, the Ministry of Agriculture through the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority in 2006 rehabilitated and maintained critical drainage and irrigation channels in Region 10.
In anticipation of the December 2006 rains the NDI through the Regional Democratic Council of Region Ten rehabilitated the main drainage channels in Industrial Area, Rainbow City and Victory Valley. All maintenance works were executed by CDC/Farmers’ groups in the Region where in excess of three hundred persons were employed.
This year the NDIA proposed to empolder river embankments at Kwakwani, construct river embankment at Laddersville and rehabilitate concrete drains at Green Valley. The NDIA also intends to continue maintaining critical areas in Region Ten utilizing available funds.
The Ministry of Agriculture will continue with its efforts to provide a better quality of service to farmers across the country as we support the National Programme to diversify the economic base of the country.
To this end, the Ministry will continue to collaborate with all farmers’ groups, NGO’s, LEAP, the Region Ten administration and all other concerned bodies as we exploit the full agricultural potential of Region Ten.
Yours faithfully,
Brian Greenidge
Deputy Permanent Secretary
Ministry of Agriculture
