Head of the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) Dr Oudho Homenauth said the institute will be monitoring all imported coconut planting materials from Mexico after concerns were raised by farmers about the lethal yellowing disease.
Concerns were raised by a farmer that the importation of planting materials from Mexico, where the disease is native, could possibly see coconut trees in Guyana being infected and spreading throughout the country.
However, according to Homenauth, farmers should not be worried since the plant materials are checked and verified in Mexico before they are sent and also tested upon arrival in Guyana. “It’s one of those diseases that we
