Massive potential for poultry farming in Lethem-Mayor calls for residents to tap into economic opportunities
DPI/GINA, GUYANA, Monday, June 05, 2017
Mayor of Lethem, Carlton Beckles is urging Region Nine (Upper Takatu-Upper Essequibo) farmers to take up poultry farming, which he said is a lucrative business venture.
In a recent interview with the Department of Public Information/Government Information Agency (DPI/GINA) Beckles explained that almost 98 per cent of the poultry which is consumed in the region, comes from the neighbouring country of Brazil.
The mayor is therefore calling on the local farmers to swiftly tap into the available market opportunities, in the region, and offer safe and healthy poultry to the residents.
About 8,800 laying hens and 1,100 roosters mill around two large checken houses on the Wright poultry farm. The wrights were 2012 recipients of the Poultry Farm Family of the year through the Alabama Poultry Federation.
The mayor would also like to see farmers in the region taking up cash crop farming. He noted that the opportunity is available to sell these at the local supermarkets, as alternative to the food stuff which is imported from Brazil.
“It is not that I am anti-Brazilian products but the opportunity is here for us to have an earning and to produce stuff that can contribute to the health of residents of the region,” the mayor said.
The government has been pushing agricultural development in the hinterland, with particular focus on Region Nine, which has over 4000 acres of land that is available for development.
The hinterland communities have large areas of very fertile land that are inaccessible. The government has therefore been working with regional and local officials, private investors and developers to look at these communities’ agricultural potential.
The government’s focus is on making these communities self-sufficient, thereby eliminating their need to transport food supplies by air from the coastland or import them from neighboring Brazil, at tremendous cost.
Government therefore has been promoting the cultivation and production of non-traditional crops to the residents and investors in these communities. Several regional and local officials have since been issuing similar calls, of which some have been answered by several residents.
Mayor Beckles noted that the farmer in Nappi in the region, have taken up poultry rearing. This farmer he said, started with 100 birds and has since increased the scope of his operation and is now rearing 1000 birds.
The government’s thrust for development in the agricultural sector in the hinterland is hinged on the drive to diversify and expand production in traditional and non-traditional activities. The focus is centered on improving the production capabilities, looking at market and scope for diversification, but on moving agriculture from the coastland due to the adverse effects of climate change.
By: Macalia Santos