By Sara Bharrat
The Ministry of Agriculture distributed 75 pigs and 20 sheep to farmers from various administrative regions yesterday at the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Agriculture Corps Division on the East Bank.
Farmers who received animals were selected by a team and the animals were allocated via a lottery system.
As their names were called the farmers pulled numbers from a bag to determine which animal they would get.
The pigs distributed were hybrids bred for the tropics and were a combination of the Duroc, Landrace and Large White breeds. Among the 20 sheep distributed were the Barbados Black Belly and several local hybrids.
The animals were at several different stages of development hence the lottery system was used for their distribution.
Present at the distribution exercise yesterday were Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud; Deputy Permanent Secretary of the agriculture ministry’s administration department, Brian Greenidge; Officer Com-manding GDF Agriculture Corps, James Fraser; General Manager of the New Guy- ana Marketing Corporation, Nizam Hassan; Chief Crop and Livestock Officer, Brian Sears and Technical Manager, agriculture ministry, Joseph McAllister.
Minister Persaud said that the distribution of these animals is the second of its kind and is a part of the Grow More campaign currently conducted by the ministry. He noted that the Grow More drive seeks to address the rising cost of food that currently exists and ensure that we have enough food to feed our people.
The minister warned farmers that disease prevention is a very important issue to be taken into consideration if farmers are to rear more livestock.
The outbreak and spread of any disease among livestock can cost the sector millions in losses, he said.
Persaud stressed that “these threats are real,” and should be taken seriously.
A definite improvement to be made to the agriculture sector, the minister said, will be the addition of an Animal Health Laboratory.
This facility, Persaud explained will be very important since the final products that will be exported to countries like the United States (US) will have to be property certified.
According to the minister the market is available for Guyana’s products as several Caribbean countries have expressed their interest. However, he noted that it would make no sense to “tie-up” the market when we cannot yet meet the full demand.
Genetics, as it relates to breeding livestock, is another area in which the ministry has been making progress. Persaud said embryo transfer has seen a 73% success rate which is higher than the United Kingdom’s 50%-60% and 80% of artificially inseminated females have been successfully impregnated. By August 24 the piglets and lambs produced by these methods will be available for distribution to farmers, he said.
The minister pointed out that his recent visits to various areas have proven that farmers have made great improvements to their farms. Representatives of the farmers expressed their thanks to the ministry and said that any help offered will be readily accepted by them.
