Come 2025, Guyana will no longer need to import a single shipment of corn and soya bean to satisfy the feedstock demand of the poultry sector. So said Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha today as he addressed the media at his end-of-year press conference.
The minister noted that this achievement is very attainable as strides in this direction are already being made. Mustapha told the media that private investors have sown 10,000 acres of corn and soya beans in 2023. He said projections have already been made for the end of 2024—26,000 acres; by the end of 2025—30,000.
Mustapha said that government played its role in supporting the private investors and farmers.
“In 2023, we continued our government’s unwavering support for corn and soya bean production and expansion with a wharf at Tacama, adding to the previous investment of the Tacama road, and drying and storage facility,” the Minister noted.
Further, Mustapha said with two new investors that came on board in 2023—Santa Fe and Iring Integrated—and another two new investors—Sheriff Group and Farmland Inc—that are to come on board in 2024, “we are on our target for self-sufficiency to produce all the livestock feed, reducing our dependency on imports by 2025.”
