“Guyana is awakening to the future of agriculture,”
The observation was made by the Director General of the Inter American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) Dr Manuel Otero at the end of a tour of field operations of the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA) Mon Repos and the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) Research Station Complex in Region 5 on Tuesday March 19 last.
Dr Otero’s visits were organized by the local office of the IICA on the sidelines of the 38th session of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Other IICA Staffers who participated in the FAO Conference were Mr. Jorge Werthein, Special Advisor to the Director General, Dr. Curt Delice, Special Affairs Coordinator for the Caribbean Region/IICA Representative in Suriname and Mr. Wilmot Garnett, IICA Representative in Guyana/CARICOM Liaison.
During his sideline tour of the three agricultural entities Dr Otero was accompanied by his Special Advisor, Mr. Jorge Werthein, Mr. Wilmot Garnett, IICA Representative in Guyana/CARICOM Liaison and Mr. Arnold De Mendonca, Sustainable Rural Development Specialist of the local office.
.At GSA they observed the operations of the integrated shade house and aquaphonics system funded by Canada and implemented by the IICA and the GSA.
The team also visited and observed the operations of the Victoria Greens Hydrophonic Farm and the Innovative and Entrepreneurship Shade house program at Mon Repos.
In brief remarks at the end of his tour at Mon Repos, Dr Otero noted that the agricultural sector worldwide is facing constraints in land and farming inputs as well as environmental pressures, such as climate change while the demand for food is growing at an unprecedented rate.
He said: “To address these challenges, the agriculture sector must implement modern technologies. And I am happy that from what I have seen today that I can say that Guyana is embracing this new era so that it can not only provide food for itself but for the Region and the rest of the world.”
