Buxton farmers to benefit from improved infrastructure, agricultural support

The Ministry of Agriculture will soon begin rehabilitation on a crucial farm-to-market access road in Buxton Village, East Coast Demerara. During a recent meeting with residents and farmers at the Buxton PIC Building, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha announced that work on the Buxton Middlewalk farm-to-market road will commence within a month.

In a press release, Minister Mustapha also addressed concerns about farm access, committing to the road project and providing four mechanical tillers for farmers in the Buxton/Friendship area.

Responding to a farmer who lost crops to wildfires, the Minister promised support through the National Agriculture Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) with planting materials and other inputs.

He assured other farmers that a NAREI team would also develop a plan to distribute planting materials, fertilizers, and other inputs free of cost.

Meanwhile, Minister Mustapha affirmed that the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) will continue its drainage and irrigation work in Buxton.

“I know for a fact that we awarded contracts to have canals cleaned in this community. A group was also awarded a contract to maintain those canals. We’ll continue to put mechanisms in place to ensure persons from the community are engaged to do these works. You also said that you want the intake to be repaired. We’ll do it and we’ll also clear the dam that the farmers are talking about. That will cost us about $14 million and those works will commence within a week,” Minister Mustapha said.

He also pledged rehabilitation of the irrigation structure along the crown dam in the Buxton/Friendship area, with work starting within a week at a cost of $14 million. Additionally, cattle farmers will receive a breeding bull to improve livestock, and a special committee will be formed to support all types of farmers in the area.