In continued efforts to ensure Guyana retains the reputation of being the Caribbean’s bread basket, government has over the years invested significantly into the agriculture sector and in diversification of its products. As part of those efforts government recognized the need to have facilities that will package and store farmers’ produce for export.
Minister in the Ministry of Agriculture Alli Baksh this afternoon visited the New Guyana Marketing Corporation’s (GMC) Agro Packaging Facility located at Parika, East Bank Essequibo.
At the facility, Minister Baksh held discussions with GMC’s General Manager Nizam Hassan on the way forward for the facility as it is currently in the process of being extended to accommodate nontraditional produce. The facility currently packages cassava, sweet potatoes and eddoes.
Minister Baksh said the facility is very important to the farmers in the Essequibo and Pomeroon as it offers easy access to the facility and it is close to the market.
“Farmers can bring their produce here and ensure it is prepared to standards that are acceptable for exportation and for the market which is close by,” Minister Baksh said.
The Minister believes that the new GMC has been doing a fantastic job to provide assistance to farmers using the means and resources that are available to visit their farms, interact with them to ascertain the level of intervention that is needed.
“Right here in Parika there are thousands of acres of farm lands in nontraditional crops and farmers are encouraged to go more as government has provided them with the necessary capacities to do so such as roads and access to loans…what we are trying to do is to encourage farmers to grow more and provide better facilities, not only a packaging plant but, also drainage and irrigation which has been improving over the years, “Minister Baksh said.
This, he said is good for the country’s Gross Domestic Product as the increase in growth of agricultural products would ultimately mean an increase in exportation.
“We can say that in the future farmers will have better opportunities of accessing such facilities as they continue to grow more which will benefit them first,” Minister Baksh said
He further said that government is not only investing through the new GMC to upgrade the facility but, is also looking for partnerships with both local and foreign farmers.
“We already have partnership with the farmers of Parika…we are establishing partnership with an individual entity from Trinidad which would see the expansion of this facility…we ideally prefer to have partnerships with locals who produce on a large scale for exportation,” Minister Baksh said.
Whilst in Parika, he also examined an old storage facility on the Parika Stelling and interacted with a pineapple farmer from Bonasika.
The Parika Packaging facility is strategically located between the Parika Stelling and the area’s market. Its strategic location allows for easy access for farmers transporting their produce via the Essequibo River.
A few days earlier, Minister Baksh visited the Central Packaging Facility located at the National Exhibition Complex, Sophia and held discussions with the facility’s Manager and an exporter.
