Local investors who want to undertake a huge bean and soybean growing project
– Govt for Public / Private / Partnership audit
Assistant Bounty Farm Ltd. Managing Director, David Fernandes (center) during a discussion with Minister Mustapha (left) and MoA DG, Madanlall Ramraj.
Kaieteur News – Six local companies have joined forces to undertake a massive project that could see Guyana on the path to becoming self-sufficient in corn and soybeans over the next few years.
The owners of Guyana Stock Feed Ltd, Royal Chicken, Edun Farms, SBM Wood, Dubulay Ranch, and Bounty Farm Ltd, along with Brazil-owned NF Agriculture, have partnered to produce soybeans and corn for the markets local and regional. . The seven-member team has been aggressively engaging with the relevant bodies and is expected to begin this massive project over the next few months.
Following a tour of their Timehri operations last Tuesday, David Fernandes, Assistant Managing Director of Bounty Farm Limited, explained the group’s vision for the project. During his presentation, Fernandes said, Guyana has long been touted as having the potential to be a Caribbean Bread Basket and that in recent years there has been a greater appreciation of the high dependence on imports on for livestock feed.
“With the advent of Covid-19, we have realized our vulnerability to global prices, supply, and freight variability. This underlined the importance of self-reliance in food safety. As a group, we want to be able to help transform Guyana’s food and agricultural systems, shorten the value chains nationally and regionally, become self-sufficient in commodities needed for the poultry industry, create employment, and promote rural development. others, ”said Mr. Fernandes.
Fernandes also said that such a massive project would result in a significant reduction in the cost of raw materials for livestock production while improving Guyana’s competitive advantage in the global market.
With Guyana spending close to US $ 25 million annually on proteins for the poultry sector, the government, since taking office, has taken steps to promote domestic grain growing of corn and soybeans. The Government, in its 2020 Emergency Budget, abolished value added tax (VAT) on agricultural machinery, fertilizers, agrochemicals and pesticides, making it more viable for such investments. In addition, the government has reversed land lease fees across all sectors and water charges back to 2014 rates.
Furthermore, in this year’s budget, an additional $ 500 million was allocated to develop the corn and soybean industry. These amounts are invested to ensure the necessary infrastructure is in place to support private investment. Investors from Dubai, UAE have also signaled their interest in cultivating corn and soybeans locally.
Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha said the government was keen to reduce its spending, especially on locally produced goods. The subject Minister also said that the government was ready to work with investors and provide the necessary support to get projects of this nature started.
“We already have a Brazilian investor growing corn in the Ebini, located in the upper Berbice River and I look forward to seeing more companies joining. Today’s presentation was well received and I commend our local investors for signing their interest in such a large project. If we can produce the amount of corn and soybeans needed to become self-sufficient in proteins for our poultry industry, those funds can be used to further develop the sector. As a government, we are also working to reduce Guyana’s food import bill and reliance on food imports, ”said Minister Mustapha.
The subject Minister also said that the government will make the necessary resources available so that this project can start as soon as possible, and will explore having a public / private partnership / with an initial investment of $ 500 million allocated to begin infrastructure work in areas such as the Intermediate Savannahs earmarked for growing corn and soybeans, and other large-scale agricultural activities such as mega-farm development.
To date, the team has engaged with several other relevant bodies such as the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC), the Guyana Investment Office (Go-Invest), and other relevant stakeholders. Once given the green light, cultivation is expected to begin before the end of the year.
At present, Guyana’s national feed consumption for the poultry industry is 113,000 tonnes annually, with broiler birds consuming about 100,000 tonnes of feed and stalks taking in about 13,000 tonnes of forage annually. This feed contains 60% Grain (Corn and Rice), which equates to approximately 68000 tonnes, and 30% soybean meal which equates to approximately 34000 tonnes per year. (Ministry of Agriculture)