The government remains keen on its food security agenda and to lower CARICOM’s high food import bill by 25 per cent by the year 2025.
As a result, the government continues to encourage the cultivation of new crops and varieties, value-added production, and climate-smart agriculture to achieve this goal.
Intending to be self-sufficient by 2025, the PPP/C Administration remains committed to the cultivation of corn and soya bean in the intermediate savannahs.
Over $1.2 billion was allocated in this year’s budget for infrastructural development in Tacama, where soya is being widely grown.
During an outreach on Wednesday in Region Five, Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha highlighted that some 1,200 tonnes of soya beans will be harvested shortly.
“We are seeing new crops that we have started this year. That shows our commitment to diversification in the sector. We are seeing a revolution, a change in the agriculture sector, not only rice and sugar have been dominating our country’s agriculture sector. But we are seeing growth in all of the other sectors,” the minister noted.
By 2025, the intention is to continuously increase production to cover at least 25,000 acres.
This crop will be used for the creation of livestock feed.
Guyana imports close to US$30 million in feed materials annually.
Access to the area was improved in 2022 with the construction of 40 kilometres of road, with the remaining seven kilometres to be completed this year.
The construction of the first storage and drying facility for corn and soya bean is expected to be completed within the first quarter of this year.
Some $150 million will be invested in the construction of a wharf at Tacama foreshore, to provide critical access to the area under cultivation.
Moco Moco in the North Rupununi is also earmarked for the production of corn and soya bean.
