The Ministry of Agriculture will move to strengthen soil health as it focuses on its ultimate goal of national food security.
The ministry recently launched its seven-year strategic plan and according to the Government Information Agency (GINA), the strategy for 2013-2020 focuses primarily on soil health. The importance of this was underscored by the Agriculture Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy who noted that 33% of the world’s soil can no longer support agriculture due to soil degradation.
Ramsammy further stated, “the focus on soil health will be on promoting prudent utilisation of biological, chemical and physical methods in an eco-system agronomic approach” and is the best way to achieve the desired increase in productivity and quality.
Towards this end, the ministry will institute the necessary training and research through the University of Guyana, National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute, the National School of Agriculture and the various technical institutes throughout the country. In addition, the Ministry plans to focus on the training of farmers and agricultural workers.
