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Increased farming being promoted in Linden as Guyana anticipates oil boom
With the drilling of oil slated to commence next year, it is expected that the demand for food, particularly fresh produce, will increase significantly. This observation was made by Regional Agricultural Officer of Region 10, Derrick Collins.
Region 10 Agricultural Officer, Derrick Collins
Collins was at the time addressing a number of farmers in Region 10 in a meeting organised by Regional Chairman, Renis Morian, to help in propelling Co-ops with the view of bringing about holistic and broad-based development.
According to Collins, the best approach that farmers can embrace is to become actively involved in Co-ops, He noted too that this will serve farmers well once they are properly organised. In sharing this tactic, the Agricultural Officer made it clear that farming will serve as another platform for many to earn significant incomes through anticipated increased sales. “Irrespective of what you think, farming is the way to go, let me urge you to get involved because it will help in bringing about the needed revenues to enhance your respective communities,” he said.
As such, Collins called on farmers to support their respective cooperatives, even as he stressed that farming is the best way to go. “Check all the modern agricultural countries around the world, when you check how they [farmers] got the way they are, they will tell you that they belong to Co-ops. Check Europe, farming countries like Italy, they all have Co-ops, so I am encouraging you to get organised… with Co-ops you stand better to gain,” he reiterated.
The Agriculture Officer declared too that, through the Regional Democratic Council, his office will seek to provide certain opportunities in enhancing the growth and development of agriculture in Region 10.
“Oil is coming and the men and women who would be working on those oil rigs will need food [fresh produce]. When Exxon, for instance, goes out [to buy], they will not go to an individual to buy…the first group that approaches, they will buy from them because they see what is called an organisation; they see democracy, so I encourage you to take heed and visit the Co-ops office,” he appealed.
He noted that while Region 10 has been known to be a mining community for several decades, the shift to farming has also proven to be beneficial. He, moreover, urged residents to not see farming with the stigma and discrimination that many usually do, but underscored that agriculture is certainly going to help return Guyana to being the bread basket of the region.
“Learn more and join a Co-op, so the next time that I speak to you, I can see you benefitting from the things that I have given to your respective co-ops,” said Collins, who revealed that recently “I donated a 1060 water tank and 105 permanent crops to a Co-op right in Linden. So by you joining a Co-op, you can imagine how you can benefit, through your Co-op, from the RDC,” the Agriculture officer said.
He continued by stressing, “Get involved in what is usually referred to as Community and family farming. Linden is celebrating a decade of family farming and with the United Nations’ move to eradicate hunger and end poverty, I think the best way to go should be to return to the soil.”
Collins said too that communities like Millie’s Hideout and Moblissa are leading the charge in agricultural development even as, he added, “I urge others to emulate such efforts.”
According to the Agricultural Officer, the Madena Co-op society has certainly laid the foundation adding, “I know communities like Moblissa, and from the stories that we have heard, Region 10 [as a whole] was once a powerhouse as it relates to agriculture. So please take this opportunity wisely and do what is generally referred to as ‘make hay while the sun shines’,” Collins stressed.
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