'Grow-More’ campaign being promoted among sugar-cane workers

Georgetown, GINA, May 07, 2008. 

Government continues to encourage increased agricultural production as part of measures to combat the rising cost of food and sugar-cane workers are being urged to get involved to support the ongoing ‘Grow-More’ campaign.

At a meeting with Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud last Tuesday, at the Albion Community Centre, Region Six, sugar-cane workers were updated on the current food price situation and efforts being made to help Guyanese deal with the issue.

The workers were told that the ‘Grow-More’ campaign is intended to increase overall food production in the country, export and household income and help individual communities to become self-sufficient. It was pointed out that one of the campaign’s main aspects is marketing to cater for the increase in food production.

Reference was made to a similar effort by the previous administration which failed because citizens were encouraged to produce more and there were no markets for the items. Against this background, the ‘Grow-More’ campaign is being coordinated by the Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC), whereby farmers will be provided with necessary marketing information and guidance to form linkages with buyers.

Additionally, the campaign involves the provision of technical advice and assistance with items such as planting materials and livestock to initiate increased production.

The sugar-cane workers were told that activities such as crop cultivation and/or livestock-rearing could provide them with additional income and help their families to become self-sufficient. They were advised of contributory factors such as the global increase in fuel prices that has impacted on industrial/production activities, climate change that is affecting agriculture around the world, depreciation of the United States dollar and use of grains to produce bio-fuels.

Reference was made to Government’s actions to deal with the situation such as the removal of Value Added Tax (VAT) from all basic food items, removal of tax/duty from dieseline and increasing the purchasing power of citizens through higher wages.

It was noted that are some business persons charging excessive mark-ups on items some of which do not attract VAT. They were urged, like other consumers to report such cases for investigations to be conducted by the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).

At present, Government is investing in several major initiatives to boost agricultural production in Guyana including implementation of the US$20M Agricultural Export Diversification Programme that seeks to increase the country’s export growth rate and reduce its volatility.

Another initiative being pursued is the Rural Enterprise and Agriculture Development Programme that focuses on increasing market opportunities available to small-scale producers. It targets increased capacity of rural producers to efficiently and effectively produce and market non-traditional products and develop small scale enterprises.

Additionally, investments are continuing in improved drainage and irrigation and modern technology and practices to support farming and livestock activities. These are intended to support farmers and other citizens as they pursue increased production.

 

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