The overseas market would call it “betting big”. In Guyana, we say “throw out yuh belly.” It’s the precise description for what Demerara Distributors Limited (DDL) is doing by investing in a US$20M dairy farm. The sheer scale and nature of this project has never been done in Guyana or even in the entire CARICOM. Set at Moblissa on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway, the project will draw on the knowledge and technological prowess of its Israeli partner, the LR Group. But DDL knows full well that it will take more than institutional knowledge to secure the success of this massive undertaking.
Acutely aware of this, DDL’s Chairman, Komal Samaroo, told reporters on Friday that his company is employing a different strategy. Instead of waiting until 2025, the year he will have all his “cows in a row,” he said the company already invested US$20M on modernizing its agro-processing plant at Diamond where milk is being boxed and sold.
Samaroo admitted that the company is using imported milk powder for this process. “The benefit of this is that it allows us to create a demand while the preparatory work is still ongoing for the dairy farm…That is the first stage of our process because we believe in market-led growth. And we want to start building a brand before we actually get into the production of milk using our own farm,” the Chairman said.
He noted that the company now plans to invest another US$20M to establish the farm that will position Guyana at the forefront of dairy production. He expressed great optimism about the project as it holds the potential to truly reduce Guyana’s US$35M annual import bill for milk.
“We believe this project could be transformative not just for Guyana but the entire region,” the Chairman said.
Explaining the mechanics of the project was DDL Director and Analytical Chemist, Sharon Sue-Hang Baksh. She said it will utilize approximately 100 acres of land, with 60 acres for feed and 40 acres for farm buildings, initially acquired from the Guyana Lands & Surveys Commission (GL&SC). She said an additional 150 acres was recently acquired with land clearing in progress.
Further, Baksh said the farm is being established to support about 915 animals in Phase One. This includes 500 milking cows and 415 heifers. There will also be a feed centre to store and prepare feed rations for all animals.
Baksh also shared that daily production is expected to be five million litres of high-quality raw milk per annum. “…An Advanced Management system will also be in place to monitor the milk production and practices, detect cows in heat, and even identify health disorders of each cow and of groups in the herd,” the Analytical Chemist said.
Baksh noted that once the milk is produced at the Moblissa farm, it will be taken to TOPCO’s modernized processing plant at Diamond. There, approximately 19.2 tonnes or 18,600 L daily (5 days/week) of premium milk products will be produced.
Overall, the dairy project is expected to impact the Linden region by providing at least 70 direct jobs and about 150 indirect jobs. During the establishment stage, an additional 200-250 direct jobs and 500 indirect jobs will be created.
The US$20M dairy farm is expected to be in operation by February 2025.
