The agricultural sector has been allocated $17.1 billion in the 2019 national budget to ramp up diversification to take advantage of available resources and to build economic resilience, while prioritising food safety and security, improved infrastructure, new value chains and value-added industries, Finance Minister Winston Jordan has said.
Jordan said in his budget presentation on Monday that traditional agriculture will continue to be one of the main pillars of Guyana’s economic development and is forecast to contribute 16.2 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product in 2018.
In spite of setbacks in the sugar industry, he said, “the sector has huge potential for growth, being pivotal to increasing household incomes, reducing unemployment and, ultimately, lowering the poverty rate.”
Though he did not mention sums allocated to the industry, he said “the Guyana Sugar Corporation will continue to introduce cost-reducing measures, explore lucrative markets and marketing strategies, and undertake critical capital works. Sugar production is projected to increase to 113,262 metric tonnes, in 2019.”
Earlier this year, he said, the government signed an agreement with the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute to support enhanced productivity in the rice industry. Three new high-yielding, pest-resistant and disease-resistant varieties, one of which is an aromatic variety, will be tested for local production, with an expected increase in yield of 5 per cent per annum, over the next three years. Some 1,500 farmers and 10 rice millers will be equipped with knowledge and skills in breeding and certified seed production. The programme will also create three new rice-based, value-added end products.
Funds will also allocated for a new state-of-the-art abattoir at Onverwagt, West Coast Berbice to reduce meat imports and to realise Guyana’s compliance with international standards for meat processing.
Government has begun discussions with the Islamic Development Bank to create a reverse linkage project in livestock and Halaal meat, Jordan said.
“This will result in the transfer of improved livestock breeds to increase production and productivity of our beef stock. There is also the likelihood of accessing new markets in the Middle Eastern States for our Halaal meat products,” he said.
In 2019, the government will conduct a feasibility study to establish a dairy value chain, he said, through the supply of improved breeding stock to farmers, milk chilling stations and refrigerated trucks to supply fresh milk to a new milk plant to be built at Diamond, East Bank Demerara by a local firm. Construction is to start in 2019.
New frontiers
Jordan also said that over $2 billion has been allocated to enhance drainage and irrigation (D&I) structures throughout the country, given rising sea levels and frequent incidents of flooding due to increased rainfall with adverse impacts on agricultural production. Over $231 million is earmarked to complete the construction of the D’Edward Sluice.
“Another $100 million will be targeted to the protection of our mangrove forests, an important defence against rising sea and ocean levels,” he added.
With funding from India, he said, in 2019 the government will procure 12 high-capacity drainage pumps for regions 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. The pumps are expected to help to improve flood control and protect farming and residential areas.
Jordan added that while the country’s agrarian agriculture continues to be important and relevant, new frontiers need to be opened for plantation agriculture in crops such as corn, soya, quinoa, orchards of fruits and vegetables, and livestock and fisheries.
Over $200 million has also been allocated for the construction of a modern agricultural research facility at Ebini to promote the development of orchards, nurseries and seed production, and for breeding cattle and small ruminants to provide stock for farmers and entrepreneurs, Jordan said.
In 2019, the government will work closely with the private sector to develop their agro-processing potential, to expand production and improve competitiveness, he added. “Interventions in this area will include the provision of low-interest financing for small businesses, for which another $100 million has been budgeted for the Small Business Bureau, in 2019,” Jordan said.
The New Guyana Marketing Corporation, he noted, is to expand its marketing services to support small, agro-processors by providing guidance on acceptable practices, capacity building, and access to packaging materials.
The sum of $71.3 million has been allocated for the upgrade of the Guyana National Bureau of Standards’ laboratory. Government is to also establish agro-processing facilities for the Guyana School of Agriculture in Region 2, at the cost of $37.5 million, and one in Region 1 at the cost of $20 million.
Census
Noting the need for up-to-date statistics on food and agricultural activities, so as to develop policies and plans for the agricultural sector and to monitor and evaluate them, Jordan said, preliminary works have been started on a national agricultural census in 2019.
The expected completion of updated regulations for general food safety, abattoirs, meat, milk, poultry inspections and grading of eggs, fruits and vegetables in 2019, a draft of which was completed in 2018, he said, “will support the Food Safety Act and the Animal Welfare Act, paving the way for new investment opportunities, including facilitating private sector innovation and expansion into new, agro-based products.”
Food, baseline and value chain studies in spices will be conducted in Mabaruma and
Moruca to assess the status of food, agriculture and livelihoods in those areas, he said.
A food processing facility will be built in Region 1, an additional water reservoir for water harvesting and rearing of the black giant chicken will be built in Region 9, and shade houses will be built in Region 7, Region 8 and Region 10.
In promoting sustainable fishing through effective fisheries management, Jordan also said, the government will continue to develop the technical capacity of the Fisheries Department to collect and analyse data, and monitor and surveillance of fisheries operations. Farmers will be trained in improved aquaculture practices and exposed to available technology. On marine fishing, he said systems will be strengthened to ensure improved quality of fish and fish products exported, regulated fishing, sustainable fishing practices and improved data collection.
