The Guyana government is currently moving to introduce and advance commercial aquaculture in hinterland communities, with the digging of ponds and provision of fingerlings to interested farmers.
An excavator purchased at a cost of some Gy$30 million to dig ponds for aquaculture farmers on the coastland was recently deployed to Lethem to continue the activity in that part of Guyana’s hinterland.
“It is the ministry’s objective to assist those villages in the hinterland region to attain food security through various ventures, aquaculture included, taking into consideration the biodiversity and at the same time following characteristics of a Low Carbon Development Strategy,” Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud has said.
The state’s fisheries officials are conducting regular visits to these hinterland regions to assess the best methods and practices for aquaculture, as the hinterland regions vary in climatic conditions, water resources and topography. Further, based on feedback received from consultations in the various hinterland communities, a best-approach method would be utilised to introduce aquaculture in that specific area.
Already, some amount of training in basic aquaculture practices has been conducted in Regions One, Eight and Nine. More training is expected to be done this year. The possibility of using cage culture as against ponds would be one of the experiments also to be done in coming months.
All inputs for introducing aquaculture to the hinterland would be made available where possible for these ventures; and where possible, private sector and international organizations would be sources of funding, technical assistance and other resources.
The introduction of aquaculture in hinterland villages is part of the ongoing agricultural diversification programme that seeks to explore new opportunities to enable farmers and other Guyanese to boost food production, increase exports, and improve their incomes, as well as national earnings.
This year, the Fisheries Department within the Agriculture Ministry has been allocated just over Gy$100 million for current expenditure, and an additional Gy$12 million has been given for capital undertakings in the sector. Most of these resources are earmarked for aquaculture development, which is believed to be a very lucrative venture with growing pressure on marine fisheries resources.
According to information supplied by the Fisheries Department, the 2011 capital expenditure would go towards rehabilitation of the concrete ponds of the Satyadeow Sawh Aquaculture Station and for the purchase of aquaculture equipment. That station produces thousands of fingerlings monthly, and also offers training and technical support to aquaculture farmers.
