As part of its commitment to help communities develop food security strategies to make food production resilient and sustainable, the Ministry of Agriculture is helping cassava farmers to recover after devastating floods almost destroyed the sector.
In a release yesterday, the Ministry of Agriculture stated that through its Agriculture Sector Development Unit, it is currently working with farmers from Sand Creek in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) to develop cassava germplasm as part of its crop breeding, research, and conservation efforts.
This initiative, it was explained, was conceptualised following several visits by President Irfaan Ali and Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, to the region during and after the 2021 floods. According to the release, cassava farmers in the region were adversely affected by the floods which destroyed almost 90 per cent of the country’s agriculture sector. And as a result of the massive cassava shortage due to water damage following the flood, funding was sought to develop the cassava germplasm.
