Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha yesterday commissioned a new coconut seedling nursery in Hosororo Village, Barima–Waini
The Region One nursery, which is located in the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute’s (NAREI) compound, was built and stocked at a cost of $4.3 million.
At full capacity, the nursery will be able to produce some 206,000 seedlings annually, the Ministry of Agriculture said in a release.
In addition to the nursery, Mustapha also commissioned several new pieces of equipment for NAREI’s spice processing facility. These pieces of equipment which include a ginger washer, ginger slicer, ginger grinder, and a vibro sifter, were bought at a cost of $9,747,756.
“Today is a great day for us. We are here to commission a new coconut nursery. We know many farmers in the region would usually travel to Georgetown to purchase quality seedlings. After consultation, we decided to have one constructed here so you can benefit from the same services the farmers in Georgetown and other coastal areas receive. Having this facility here will not only reduce the cost of acquiring the planting materials you need but it will also help us to increase our national production figures. This is part of our coconut decentralization programme,” Mustapha said.
While noting that access to markets continues to be an issue in the region, Mustapha said that the government through the New Guyana Marketing Corporation has been successful in finding markets for farmers in other remote parts of the country. The release said that Mustapha told the farmers that the government is currently engaging CARICOM Member States to remove the non-tariff barriers to many of Guyana’s traditional products.
CARDI’s Representative in Guyana, Juman Kundun noted that the demand for coconuts is constantly increasing in the region and globally. Furthermore, the CARDI Head said that Guyana is among three of the major coconut-producing countries in the region; producing some 20 per cent of the region’s demand while the Dominican Republic produces some 59 per cent and Jamaica 12 per cent.
General Manager of Hope Estate, Ricky Roopchand said that the first set of seedlings will be available for purchase by the end of December.
