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‘Grow More’ campaign goes to rural areas
The ‘Grow More’ food campaign was yesterday taken to the Mahaica /Mahaicony areas, as the Agriculture Ministry seeks to intensify its campaign to encourage Guyanese to produce more food.
But even as the Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud, sought to encourage farmers to cultivate more food at Mortice Primary School, Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara, one young man told the minister that the campaign is ‘short sighted, short term and would not last for long.’
He opined that too much money is being expended on the campaign without a proper basis.
The young man suggested that a better program should be implemented in schools to teach young people more about the demand for food, rather than wasting money countrywide.
However, responding to the teenager’s comment, Chief Executive Officer of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority, Lionel Wordsworth, said that the monies spent are not limited to the Mahaicony area, since the campaign is a countrywide promotion.
Minister Persaud hosted four meetings in the villages of Champagne, Calcutta, Novar and Mortice, Mahaicony.
Even as the ‘Grow More’ promotion is being encouraged in these villages, residents used the opportunity to highlight their problems to the minister.
Dominating the list of grievances were drainage and irrigation problems, allocation of land, difficulties in accessing seed paddy, stray animals, road repairs and issues and flooding.
At Champagne, the complaints were many concerning land and road issues.
The allocation of the land process was explained to the farmers, and by the end of this exercise, it was determined that many of those persons who complained about the distribution process of the lands did not follow the procedures to receive consideration for lands.
By their own admission, the farmers at Champagne Village acknowledged that they do not pay any taxes to the Neighbourhood Democratic Council or the Mahaica/Mahaicony/Abary scheme (MMA).
Over at Calcutta, the complaints were no different, as farmers voiced their concerns about the high cost of living, with emphasis on the rising cost of inputs into farming activities.
The price of fertilizer and pesticides was one of the major concerns of farmers; but, according to Minister Persaud, this is an issue that some importers have been very ‘unscrupulous’ with in dealing with farmers.
He noted that the price of fertilizer is being subsided by Government in order to ease the burden off farmers.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the National Climate Change Committee, Shyam Nokta, said that the impacts of climate change are already visible.
Guyana, like many other countries, will be affected by this phenomenon, with some of the major changes expected to be temperature rise, intense levels of rainfall, and sea level rise.
These changes, he pointed out, will have negative effects on all sectors in Guyana.
Guyana is already highly vulnerable to climate change, since 90 percent of the population lives on the coastal zone which lies below sea level.
Nokta urged farmers to keep their environments clean since it is important that all drains are clear, since it can contribute to flooding.
At Novar and Mortice, Mahaicony, Minister Persaud urged the farmers to honour their commitments and pay their dues to the MMA.
The need for immediate relief of the increased salt water entering the communities in that area was also highlighted to the Agriculture Minister.
Responding to the call for Government intervention in this problem, Persaud said that there is a breach at one of the dams at Park Estate, Mahaicony.
He added that the area where the breach occurred is part of a privately owned plot of land.
To date, he pointed out, a work plan has been decided upon, since, in the past, the owner of the land was reluctant to cooperate with MMA officials.
Fruit trees and seeds were distributed to farmers in all of the areas that were visited. Farmers were also given ‘Farmer’s Manuals’ by officials from the ministry.
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