Private investors being put together for dairy plan

Feb 24, 2014 News

– Agri. Minister

The setting up of the recently announced state-of-the-art dairy plant will be a public-private partnership, and Agriculture Minister, Dr. Ramsammy said that a contingent of private investors is currently being put together.
The Minister said that the actual design of the plan will be done in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Canadian Government.

Prize winning Dairy Heifer, Jupiter at a previous cattle exhibition organized by the Ministry of Agriculture24

When asked about the cost, Dr. Ramsammy said that a final agreement is yet to be inked. However, he noted that the facility will become operational within a year.
He said that the core of the dairy plant consists of approximately 5000 farmers who will be the main suppliers of milk to the facility. The Agriculture Minister disclosed that the establishment would be located in Region Five. Technical support for the plant will be provided by the Canadian Government.
In addition, Guyana’s Ministry of Agriculture is also looking to allocate 500 acres of land to at least five co-op groups for the purpose of setting up a livestock farm here.
Dr. Leslie Ramsammy said that the development of such an initiative would help Guyana to reduce the very high and worrying food importation bill.
He said that the Ministry of Agriculture will be collaborating with the Mahaica/Mahaicony and Abary Agricultural Development Authority (MMA/ADA), as well as the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) to implement the initiative.
Dr. Ramsammy said that the venture to set up a livestock farm has already been receiving much attention from investors, and should it materialize, the project will be looking to produce pasteurized milk, yogurt, cheese, butter and ice cream.
For this project, Dr. Ramsammy emphasized that a number of truck owners will be contracted to go to farms along the Coast to collect the milk which will then be taken to the dairy plant and converted into dairy products.
Kaieteur News understands that the livestock farm will have particularly animals that are of high genetics.
The high standard genetic animals are being produced by the Artificial Insemination Laboratory located at Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara.
Dr. Ramsammy said that for the year 2013, artificial insemination trials locally have recorded a 60% success, despite the global accomplishment being recorded at merely 40 percent.
He said that in 2013, approximately 2500 artificial insemination trials were done. This is in addition to 63 successful embryo transplants.
High standard genetic embryos are being transferred to local animals that are used as surrogate mothers in order to produce animals of better breed.
The $28.2M facility was commissioned in October 2012, with the aim of producing animals with higher quality genetics, which would ultimately result in better quality and export-ready meat, while ensuring food security.
This initiative, the Minister had said, would also seek to protect Guyana’s status as the food basket of the Caribbean.
Dr. Ramsammy explained that if Guyana wants to enhance its economy and ensure food safety, producing meat of better size and quality is vital. Thus, high quality genetics is the way forward, as it will enable local scientists to produce better breeds of animals that are of international standards.
He added that in addition to addressing the high food importation rate, the initiative will also help to provide easier markets for local dairy farmers.
Dr. Ramsammy explained that while there are about two or three other dairy plants in Guyana, the one now being considered would be for commercial use.

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