Proposals on ethanol and non-traditional crops are among the initiatives the government will be using to draw investors to the local agriculture sector and Minister Robert Persaud says government has no plans to intervene in the market.
Persaud said he hoped the Regional Agriculture Investment Forum being held today and tomorrow will correct under-investment in the sector.
“For some time now [there has been] under-investment in the agriculture sector,” Persaud told Stabroek News in a recent interview, adding that the plan is to correct this through the forum.
In the past, several investors have signalled their intention to invest in ethanol production in Guyana, and the government has begun identifying possible land for this, but maintained that agricultural land for food consumption would not be sacrificed.
The minister also said that the days of the New Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) intervening in the market by buying produce are over, since it is the ministry’s view that the New GMC’s role will be to take buyers directly to the farmer and to work with the farmer to make him/her an entrepreneur. That is, to empower the farmer and not to make him dependent on middlemen, he said. In addition, he said, the government has no intention of getting involved in the growing of food for sale.
Even as the ministry advocates freedom in terms of what farmers should plant, it advises that farmers’ actions should be on market activities.
“Our product should be … market led and market driven,” he said, since the ministry will not like to see patterns of over production recurring. He is encouraging farmers to register with the New GMC, which has a database on farming activities and which provides technical assistance to farmers.
On the input side, addressing the cost of agriculture materials continues to occupy the ministry. Last year the government had announced plans to seek fertilizer under a bilateral arrangement, but to date it has not been able to do so. Persaud said he was concerned about farmers being “ripped off”, when it comes to fertilizer prices. He said that farmers were reportedly facing a 20%-30% increase in the price of fertilizer. ”It is a worrying issue for me,” he said.
He noted that while there was no facility to provide financial assistance to farmers, the administration was focusing on in-kind assistance, such as the 600,000 packs of vegetable and fruit seeds, to be distributed in the grow more food campaign.
Six weeks ago the government launched this campaign, which focuses on two groups, the household farmer and the established farmer. The campaign plans to work with households to reduce their expenditure on fruits and vegetables and with the established farmers, to enable them to expand their production range or modify it.
Persaud said that soon each of the ten regions would have two to three distribution points for seeds. Currently, seeds are only being distributed to groups, farming and other associations, unions and churches. In addition, it was noted that it would not be feasible to hand out the seeds during the current rainy season.
The ministry is also encouraging farmers to approach it or agencies under its control like the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI), to access technical assistance, like soil testing and to seek training where applicable. “I want to make farmers much more powerful,” he said, in the sense that they must be independent and go to the agencies within the ministry to access their assistance.
Although extension services have always been an issue in the agriculture sector with farmers in outlying areas finding it difficult to access technical support – with this new campaign the ministry is pledging to up its extension services. In this regard, there will be more training of extension agents this year (this is a two-week training exercise). Last year, 12 persons from the interior benefited from this training and this year the ministry hopes to double this amount. In addition, a number of students from interior locations, were placed on two-year agriculture scholarships, by the ministry, to become extension officers on completion.
Forum
Over 179 agencies, ministries, banks, insurance companies, agri-businesses and participants have confirmed their participation in the Regional Agriculture Investment Forum today and tomorrow at the International Conference Centre, at Liliendaal.
This forum, under the theme, ‘Investing in our Future: Agri Business is Good Business’ is aimed at attracting private investors to the agriculture sector and is a part of the Jagdeo Initiative on agriculture.
Among the major groups and banks expected to send representatives are: ADM Investor Services International Ltd, London; Citigroup Smith Barney, Miami; Credit Suisse New York; First Caribbean Bank; Bank of America, Canada; Caribbean Association of Indigenous Banks; Cayman National Bank; Eastern Caribbean Central Bank; First Citizens Bank Limited, Trinidad; National Bank of Dominica; National Commercial Bank of Jamaica; Bank of St Lucia Limited; Caribbean Development Bank; Republic Bank (Guyana) Ltd and Republic Bank, Trinidad; Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry; First Global Bank Ltd; Inter-American Development Bank; Antigua Commercial Bank; Toronto Dominion Bank and Grenada Cooperative bank Ltd.
Insurers include Sagicor Life of Barbados; CLICO Trinidad Limited; NCB Insurance Company; Life of Jamaica (a subsidiary of Sagicor) and Demerara Insurance Association, Guyana. Over 76 banks and insurance companies are expected to attend the forum.
Among the food businesses that will be represented are Grace Kennedy, Jamaica; Holiday Snacks Ltd, Trinidad; Jamaica Broilers Group; Chickmont Foods, Barbados; Mount Gay Distilleries Limited, Barbados; West Indian Biscuit Company Limited, Barbados; Citrus Growers Association of Trinidad and Tobago; Caribbean Herbal Business Association; KC Confectionery Ltd; Baron Foods Ltd; Kraft Foods Trinidad and Tobago; Erin Meat Packers Limited, Trinidad; Jamaica Aqua Foods Company Ltd; BICO; Goddards, Barbados and Vemco Limited, Trinidad. Some 49 agri-businesses confirmed attendance mid-last month.
Ministries and other agencies include Ministry of Trade and Industry, Suriname; Agriculture Ministry, Guyana; Guyana Office of Investment, Guyana; Institute of Private Enterprise Development, Guyana; Caribbean Hotel and Tourist Association; Sandals; Amazon Caribbean Guyana; Caribbean Office in Haiti and the Jamaica Sheep Farmers Association.
