$402M tissue culture facility to reduce food import bill – Agri Minister
Jan 03, 2025
Kaieteur News- Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha on Monday said that the construction of the $402.5 million tissue culture facility is a step towards enhancing the country’s agricultural capabilities and reducing its food import dependency.
The agriculture minister revealed this during the Ministry’s end-of-year press conference held at his ministry’s main office located on Brickdam, Georgetown.
Notably, the construction of the facility is ongoing at the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) and will be located along the East Coast of Demerara (ECD). This project, is a collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and India’s Energy Resource Institute.
Mustapha explained that the facility’s development started on March 2, 2024, with a total cost breakdown of $179 million for the building and $223 million for the necessary equipment. The facility is expected to be operational by the first quarter of 2025, making it a major milestone in Guyana’s agricultural development.
Currently, Guyana’s tissue culture production is limited, with only about 15,000 plantlets being produced across its 11 nurseries.
However, the Minister explained, “when this is completed it will have the capacity to produce millions of … plantlets.”
“Now we are just producing just below 15,000 plantlets … because we have nurseries across the country, almost 11 nurseries but it don’t have the capacity to produce like these…so this would be here a game changer for us because it will produce a number of crops that we want,” the minister stated.
The facility will focus on growing a variety of crops, including pineapples, plantains, breadfruit, sweet potatoes, coconuts, and blackberries, which are commonly imported. It will also allow for the large-scale cultivation of crops like cassava, citrus, roses, ginger, turmeric, strawberries, and raspberries, which are key imports that are in high demand locally.
“So, this will help us to reduce our food import bill,” The agriculture minister asserted while disclosing that the tissue culture process will ensure that plant materials produced in the lab are free from pests and diseases.
Minister Mustapha reiterated that the lab’s output will not only help meet local demand but also support the country’s growing export market while positioning Guyana as a leader in agricultural production within the Caribbean.
($402M tissue culture facility to reduce food import bill – Agri Minister)
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