In an effort to further boost extension services offered to farmers, the Ministry of Agriculture yesterday received equipment to the tune of US$714,504.
The items which included six 4×4 pickup-type vehicles, six all-terrain vehicles, six outboard boats and engines, and 24 off-road motorcycles were purchased through funding from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) under the ministry’s Agriculture Sector Development Unit’s Sustainable Agriculture Development Project (SADP).
During a handing over at the ministry’s Regent Street office, Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha noted that extension officers have a critical role to play in the development of Guyana’s agriculture sector.
The equipment will be assigned to various agencies such as the National Agricultural and Research Extension Institute and the Guyana Livestock Development Authority, targeting farmers in far-flung areas where access is usually an issue.
The ministry recently hosted its first extension service training exercise in keeping with the government’s plan of revamping extension services and improving farmers’ productive capacity.
