NAREI expended US$600M on crop cultivation - Mid-year Report

NAREI expended US$600M on crop cultivation – Mid-year Report

Oct 19, 2021 News

Kaieteur News – As at the end of June 2021, the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) had expended $602.8 million for the cultivation of crops.
This is according to the Mid-year Report which revealed that the Government of Guyana had progressed on the development of other crops for cultivation prior to the floods. NAREI, it revealed, provided technical assistance as well as designs with the sharing of knowledge to farmers for the construction of 97 shade houses in all regions across the country, five of which were constructed for demonstration purposes.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NAREI, Mr. Jagnarine Singh, told Kaieteur News that the number of shade houses currently stands at 301 across the country and that he is quite certain that number will multiply before the end of 2021.
According to the report, the expansion of fruits cultivation continued to be supported through the availability of low-cost seedlings at all NAREI nurseries, with 54,915 plants, equivalent to $13.7 million sold and technical support provided to 16,284 farmers during the review period. It was revealed too that the acreage of fruits under cultivation has increased by 50acres.
It was noted too that over 100 training sessions were conducted for 1,357 farmers in Regions 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 10 in pest and disease management of black sigatoka, fruit scarring beetle, scarlet tip, red palm mite, climate smart agriculture, good agriculture practices, crop husbandry systems, among other topics.
Trials for intercropping in the coconut industry commenced on the coastal soil with bora and hot peppers and on the sandy soil with peanuts and red beans, with a view to expanding intercropping cultivation in the coconut fields, the report highlighted.
During the review period, the report noted that 0.7 tonnes of fresh ginger roots were processed and dried at Hosororo which was sent to manufacturers for assessment of the quality. In March, 655 cuttings of black pepper were distributed to the farmers of Regions 1 and 10 for cultivation. To date, there are 575 black pepper cuttings at Mon Repos and 3,654 at Hosororo, according to the report. It revealed too that there are 45 nutmeg trees in Hosororo amongst five farmers, with an expected yield of 1,000 nutmegs per tree per crop. In the second half of 2021, 222 nutmeg seedlings will be planted at the Hosororo demonstration field.
In an article by the Department of Public information, Agriculture Minister, Zulkifar Mustapha said that he is optimistic that his Ministry will continue to accelerate efforts to meet dietary demands of all Guyanese.
Minister Mustapha reiterated that the government has given prominence to the coconut industry by allocating $70 million to promote the expansion, inter-cropping, utilisation of coconut by-products and increase production and productivity of the Hope Coconut industry Limited.

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Latest News