The Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) says it is working with Region Ten stakeholders to aid livestock production.
Chief Executive Officer of the GLDA, Nigel Cumberbatch told the Department of Public Information (DPI) that the development of small-scale livestock farms will aid the overall economic growth of residents, especially single parents.
GLDA CEO, Nigel Cumberbatch.
“We recognise that small ruminant production; sheep production can play a meaningful role particularly as it relates to single parent households and so that is one of the areas that we are going to be pushing strongly in Region Ten. Cumberbatch said.
Further, Cumberbatch said that the introduction of the Black Giant Poultry programme to the region will contribute to self-sufficiency in meat and egg production for the community which gets most of its food from outside the region.
The Black Giant is a large dual-purpose chicken, which has the ability to produce up to two hundred (200) eggs annually and about 4.5 kilograms of meat in 6 months. These birds require no specially manufactured feed since they have the ability to graze and forage, as well as eat leftovers from the kitchen and still produce at an acceptable level.
The GLDA has also been working with a number of farmers who have beef cattle in the Mobilissa area and in the Intermediate Savannahs to ensure that the farmers in Region Ten have access to purebred animals.
According to Cumberbatch, in pig production, Region Ten has been the first area to receive artificial insemination for the Topigs 40, a high yielding swine breed imported from neighbouring Surniame, to aid in the development of the local pork and pork products industry.
