Gov’t to open ‘thousands of acres’ of land to grow more corn & soya, high-value crops

There is mounting interest in Guyana’s corn and soya venture and the government plans to open up thousands of acres of new land to enable greater cultivation, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha said on Monday.

“There (are) a number of other persons coming forward now to plant corn and soya.

“We have a set of farmers from Corentyne, they shortly want to get involved in corn and soya- almost 12,000 acres,” Mustapha said.

The corn and soya venture is part of Guyana’s plans to grow more of the food it needs to cut costly imports.

According to the Ministry of Finance, Guyana cultivated over 3000 acres of soya beans and over 1200 acres of corn in the first half of 2023. It is expected that Guyana will become self-sufficient in this subsector by 2025 and capable of exporting to the Caribbean.

But the interest is not solely in this venture.

Mustapha said other investors are keen on growing more high-value crops, be it broccoli or carrots, across Guyana. The more traditional sectors- rice, sugar, cash crops and livestock- are also seeing interest and expansion.

So Mustapha says the more land will be made available for cultivation.

“In the new year at MMA, I am looking to open up almost 20,000 acres of new land there,” the Agriculture Minister said.

The new all-weather farm-to-market road at the No. 58 Village, Corentyne, Berbice and the roadway that will link Linden to Lethem are also expected to help the government develop new lands for agricultural purposes.