Guyana’s dairy, small ruminant industries are to receive a major boost through technical and other assistance from Canadian farmers. This is being realised through a government collaboration facilitated by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).
At a recent meeting in the boardroom of the Agriculture Ministry, Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana Dr Nicole Giles and a delegation of Canadian farmers met with Agriculture Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy.
The meeting saw the areas of cooperation drafted which will shape and form the initial cooperation among the two countries.
State-of-the-art
Among the areas discussed was the establishment of a state-of-the-art dairy processing plant, which is expected to become operational within one year’s time, a comprehensive solution to agricultural opportunities of which Guyana presents among others.
Speaking at the end of the meeting, Dr Giles expressed her delight at the outcome of the meeting between the government and its Canadian counterpart, describing it as a productive one.
“The commitment that we have certainly made is to have a plan, to do so within one year, but we all agree that we don’t want perfection to be the enemy of progress and that we will work together on a step-by-step basis to come up with a comprehensive approach from data management to production, to quality, to market,” she said.
With respect to high quality system, enhanced technology, Ambassador Giles stated that this is one such area of which the Canadian agricultural industry has a lot to offer.
Shortly, a team will be established comprising of the various sectors, according to the ambassador, to fully develop the plan.
Meanwhile, Dr Ramsammy welcomed the move, which will significantly boost the sector. He added that the establishment of a dairy industry in Guyana is crucial and something which will be well received by society at large, especially farmers.
“We (Guyana government), are very happy to be collaborating with Canadian farmers… Canadian farmers have ensured that Canadians are not only well fed but Canada is one of the world’s leading exporters, Guyana can benefit enormously from Canada,” he said.
Lloyd Wicks, an Ontario farmer, who headed the delegation on their first meeting with Minister Ramsammy, pointed out that the collaboration will pave the way for Canada to introduce some of the mechanisms presently being used to Guyanese farmers.
According to Wicks, Trent University, Canada, is also part of the collaboration with respect to research and will be working hand-in-hand to ensure high quality genetics is developed.
“There is tremendous potential for improved genetics with new management system to have a significant impact on the wider dairy industry, but in particular on individuals,” he said.
Technical officers from the Agriculture Ministry will also be working with the Canadian Farmers Association to strengthen Guyana’s improved breeding programme, particular in its artificial insemination and embryo transfer programme.
When completed, this will see Guyana benefiting from the transfer of frozen embryos’ and semen for its artificial insemination programme, which will significantly lower the cost of acquiring genetic stocks.
