Guyana: Agriculture sector boomed in 2023

The Government of Guyana recalled the achievements they made in the agriculture sector last year. It said that as the rice industry remains a significant pillar, the country saw an increase in paddy production by 7%.

The government also said that the favourable weather conditions throughout 2023 saw the yield increase from 6.2 tonnes per hectare in 2022 to 6.3 tonnes per hectare.

Approximately $45.2 Billion was earned from exports (US$210 Million) in 2023, which is over $3 Billion more than in 2022. New markets were accessed in the past year, including Sierra Leone.

Due to the groundbreaking research work with IICA, the Zinc Enriched Rice - GRDB IICA-17 variety was launched in October. For the scientists to continue on this path and conduct more trials, Guyana has renovated the Plant Breeding Lab at the Burma Rice Research Station.

Construction of drying floors in Region 5 at Cotton Tree and in Region 3 at Hague are currently underway. This makes a total of 8 drying floors built by this government since 2020 [2021:4, 2022:2, 2023:2].

The Black Bush Seed Processing Facility is now operationalization, which will see 6000 bags of high-quality seeds being processed to benefit 600 farmers.

In 2023, the government invested $33.5 billion into drainage and irrigation for NDIA ($31.9 Billion), MMA ($657 Million), and Flood Risk Project ($ 1 billion).

The other achievements in Guyana were as follows:

1. Pump Stations: In 2023, MOA/NDIA/Flood Risk began the construction of 8 new pump stations, with a value of over $5 Billion, to further strengthen the national drainage and irrigation system. With nine rolled over from the previous year. That is a total of 17 pump stations currently ongoing. 2. Farm-to-Market Roads: The government built 41.9 km of farms-to-market roads in 2023, investing just around $1 Billion, paving the way to prosperity for our farmers. These farm-to-market roads were also done in Tacama (28.5km), Black Belly Sheep Road (3.5km), Onderneeming Road (6.7km), Nabaclis (1.6km), and Victoria Road (1.6km). In 2023, the construction of all-weather roads at Nabacalis Middle Walk and Victoria, East Coast Demerara in Region 4, and the rehabilitation of the access road at Onderneeming (Phase Il). 3. Equipment: NDIA's and MMA's Fleet of equipment and machinery increased in 2023, which strengthened the institutional capacity for better drainage and irrigation in Guyana. Some notable equipment includes mobile pumps, cutter hedge dredge, pontoons, amphibious excavators, and long-reach excavators. These are valued at over $1 Billion. 4. Leases: The government, through the MMA/ADA, distributed 100 leases to farmers in 2023. 5. Drainage and Irrigation: In Region 5 (MMA), D&I works to benefit 28,500 acres of land for agriculture purposes. 15,000 acres of this is NEW land at Herstelling, Berbice. Approximately $1.8 billion was expended to provide irrigation for over 500 farmers and about 20,000 acres, benefiting farmers in various communities in Upper and Lower Pomeroon. 6. Water Harvesting: $62.1 million was spent by the government of Guyana to complete a rainwater harvesting project in Deep South Rupununi (Region 9). This benefitted over 800 farmers in 20 villages.