President meets Essequibo farmers
- Government mulls further subsidy of flour

Georgetown, GINA, April 27

With food shortages increasing across the globe and prices escalating worldwide President Bharrat Jagdeo today met Essequibo farmers at Aurora to discuss which lands in that county are not in use and are available for agriculture expansion.
            At the forum, interested groups were asked about what they would need to start the process and what would be their preferred form of government assistance in that regard.
            Essequibo, Guyana’s largest county and with bountiful land is one of the areas under consideration by the Government to aid the country in the production of more agricultural crops to contain the shortages being experienced in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
            Farmers were told that with the US$3B food market in the region which could reach about US$6B due to rising food prices, they could capitalise on the market, earn more, as well as assist Guyana in fulfilling its agriculture responsibility to the Region.
            The Guyanese leader told farmers that now is the time to take up the challenge, an issue which he had brought up at the CARICOM level several times before but, which was not taken seriously as most CARICOM countries were focused on other initiatives such as tourism. The President outlined some of the problems facing countries and alluded to riots in these countries as a result.
            Flour, one essential food commodity continues to increase on the world market and the Head of State explained that Government is trying to assist Guyanese more in this area, although the commodity has already been zero-rated. “For the last shipment of wheat flour, flour mill dealers met with us. Because of the high cost they wanted to increase the price by 34 percent. They then went down to 25 percent. We (Government) are looking to subsidise this so that it (the price) would not increase,” he said. President Jagdeo pointed out that flour prices will continue to increase unless the US changes some of its policies.
            He announced that soon people may see the price of clothing also increasing as millions of acres of land in places used to plant cotton have been decreased as well.
            “We have to make sure in this region that we focus on food security,” the President emphasised. On this note and following suggestions by the farmers, he said that Government would be willing to assist those who are interested in joining in the process and they can repay the administration following production. The farmers were in agreement with this proposal. It was decided that Government would assist the groups by ensuring drainage and irrigation is taken care of, access roads to farming areas are constructed and, the land for cultivation are empoldered.
            With 5,000 acres of land decided upon to start with, the President directed Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud who was also present at the meeting, to ensure that soil tests and studies are carried out before he meets the farmers again in another month.
            After meeting farmers the Head of State moved to other areas to inspect drainage structures and projects, following which he proceeded to Charity for a live interview with RCA TV where he outlined Government’s agriculture initiative and encouraged more farmers to get on board.

     

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