Farmers across the country are in line to benefit from $2 Billion in free fertilizer from the Government, President Irfaan Ali has announced.
During a meeting with farmers and residents in the town of Anna Regina this morning, the President stated that the Government intends to purchase and distribute the $2B worth of fertilizer to both cash crop and rice farmers as a form of subsidy.
“This is a government that understands the importance of investing in people, investing in community, investing in productivity and investing in the holistic development and expansion and improvement in the lives of people,” the President said as he made the announcement.
In 2023, the Government offered a similar subsidy to the tune of $1 Billion.
President Ali said the subsidy is in keeping with his government’s promise to revive the Agriculture Sector.
“Rice was taken out of the Government support system and the government adopted a philosophy that rice and agriculture is private business and you must be left on your own. You saw enormous increases in your rates, your land rentals. You saw limited support for crop development, in research and development, increasing yield, productivity, but since we came back to office, the investments we have made, the investments we have made have brought tremendous improvements in the various sectors. For rice, our productivity has increased from about 5.5 tons to 6.1 tons per hectare,” the President said.
He said the improvements seen in the Agriculture Sector today are a result of Government policies and a commitment to invest in the sector.
Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha, announced that rice production will be over 725,000 tons, which is a testament to the support provided to the sector.
“This didn’t come about because we wished to increase production, it came about with a vision, a government that has a vision, a government that has been led by a visionary [leader],” Agriculture Minister said.
He said the Government has invested well over $10B in the Agriculture Sector, and is now reaping the benefits.
“Although, we are an oil and gas producing country, although we have seen many persons express interest in the oil and gas industry, today, we are seeing massive transformation in the agriculture sector. Today, we are seeing renewed hope. Today, we are seeing tons of people coming back to invest in agriculture because we have to produce more food. We have to produce more food; we have to reduce import and we are thriving to be there” he said.
Minister Mustapha said as a result of Government’s direct intervention, Guyana is now a food security leader within CARICOM.
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