The National Agriculture Research and Extension Institute’s (NAREI)
two-day conference opened today at the Guyana School of Agriculture
(GSA), under the theme “Agriculture: Guyana’s Pathway to a Green
Economy.”
Addressing the gathering at the opening of the conference, Minister of
Agriculture Noel Holder said the agriculture sector is faced with
significant challenges that require solutions based on research and
innovation.
Research, he said, plays an integral role in providing a sound base
for the development and implementation of Guyana’s agriculture policy.
“In particular, research can provide the knowledge base for taking
decisions and long-term planning that are needed to cope with the
challenges. Research by 2030 and beyond will play a key role in
improving the sustainability and diversity of our food systems,
finding solutions for wastage and reducing the global loss of
biodiversity, which is nearly 60 percent.”
Minister Holder said that Guyana’s future research agenda must give
priority to sustainable and inclusive economic development. Targetted
research will help to address the challenges of food production,
management of natural resources and a balanced development of
coastland and hinterland areas.
The Minister added that the ministry must continue to build research
and innovation capacity for lower performing regions. Each region has
its own competitive advantage; therefore, he said the ministry must
capitalise on these to expand agriculture in each region. For
instance, in Region One, the spices – turmeric, nutmeg, black pepper
and ginger – have been successful, and in Region Nine, mangoes,
peanuts, cattle, small ruminants and orchard crops prosper.
“Don’t limit your research to just fresh produce. Just as you did by
adding value with establishing a spice factory, let us target the high
value, low volume products…Our researchers and scientist must be
futuristic. As Guyana emerges as a major oil and gas producer, we must
think transformative in our research,” Minister Holder urged.
Chairman of NAREI’s Board of Directors, Dr. Patrick Chesney reiterated
the Institute’s commitment to support research in all of the ten
administrative regions of Guyana. “It is my intention as Chairman of
the Board is to take to the board a measure of the installation and
wise use of cooperative and collaborative research and extension
infrastructural programmes in all of our regions.”
NAREI’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr. Oudho Homenauth noted that
while the Institute’s development programmes have been re-oriented
from time to time on the basis of national and global changes, new
challenges confronted today to warrant a renewed concept of
agriculture.
The conference focused on topics including the Green State Development
Strategy (GSDS), hinterland agriculture – Guyana’s new agriculture
frontier, climate-smart practices, improving production and
productivity, green agriculture practices and agriculture health and
food safety issues.
Among those who participated in the two-day conference are farmers and
representatives of farmers organisations and other agriculture
agencies.
