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– as part of its mission to turn Reg. 10 into the bread basket of the Caribbean
On a mission to transform Linden, Region 10 into a major agricultural hub with the use of modern and traditional agricultural techniques, a small group of farmers is aiming to penetrate not only the local market, but also regional and international markets in places such as Barbados, St Maarten and eventually North America.
Two years into existence, the group – Madinah Strait Agricultural Co-operative Society Limited – with a membership of approximately 15 farmers, has already secured 1,000 acres of agricultural land along the Linden-Mabura Road, a stone throw away from Wisroc, Linden.
In an extensive interview with Village Voice Guyana at the Linden Chamber of Industry, Commerce and Development (LCICD) office, Chairman of Madinah Strait Agricultural Co-op Society, Kwesi Parkes said approximately 20 per cent of the area has been cleared of unwanted vegetation and is currently under cultivation as part of the first step in meeting the agricultural needs of Linden, Region 10 and those of New Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) and Barbados.
Bora, tomatoes, pumpkins, ochro and corilla are among the cash crops currently being grown while the permanent crops include coconuts, cassava, pineapples, and oranges.
Weighing in on the progress made thus far, Garfield Sargeant – the Manager of Madinah Strait Agricultural Co-op Society – said while some members are retailing their produce, the primary intention of the co-op is to engage in contract farming, and as such its farming activities will be market driven.
“For example, we have managed to establish an agreement with New GMC, whereby from April of next year, they are expecting us to produce 90,000 kilos of bitter cassava,” Sargeant posited.
“Now 90,000 would work out to five acres of bitter cassava that would have to be reaped every month starting from February. It means that you just don’t need five acres of land, because cassava takes eight months to mature, so it means that every month, 8 times five acres would have to be made available for planting, and this we have distributed among farmers in the Co-op,” he further explained. A visit to the farms along to the Madinah Strait has revealed that a number of farmers have already prepared their cassava beds.
Sargeant said the Madinah Strait Agricultural Co-op also had discussions with Guyana’s beverage giant – Banks DIH – on the possible supply of fruits to its Thirst Park factory; and with tremendous support from the Linden of Chamber of Industry, Commerce and Development, it intends to supply fruits and vegetables to Barbados. According to him, Barbados has provided the Linden Chamber with a list of 30 items needed for importation. That list includes green vegetables, pineapples and citrus.
In its quest to meet the demands of the identified markets, the Co-op has already planted approximately 10,000 pineapples and by November 2021, it intends to plant another 20,000 pineapples. “Pineapples is going to be one of the crops that we are going to focus on, and by the way, that’s a great money earner. Pineapples sells locally as well as globally and it can actually help us in terms of meeting some of our financial goals,” the manager told Village Voice Guyana. Additionally, the Co-op is engaged in poultry rearing, and it is expected to rear approximately 5,000 meat birds (chickens) every month, starting December, 2020. Notably, the farmers grow desired crops but also crops assigned to them by the Executive of the Co-op Society so as to meet their demands.
The Co-op is also pursuing additional markets in places like St Maarten. “They actually import 100 percent of their food, and we do have a large Guyanese population there and Guyana is known to have the kind of foods that they would prefer, so we are looking to tap into that market,” the manager explained.
TURNING THE TIDE
In recent decades, Guyana been touted as having the potential of once again becoming the bread basket of the Caribbean but this dream has been elusive, it would appear. However, the Madinah Strait Agricultural Co-op Society strongly believes that it can make a significant impact in the country’s agricultural sector, starting with Linden, then the rest of Guyana, and finally the region and world at large.
The Co-op’s Treasurer, Wilbert Greene, who initially started rearing poultry at his home before joining the Co-op, told Village Voice Guyana that that this is an important step in turning around the economic fortunes of Linden, Region 10 but he underscored the need for support from the masses.
“The economic drive in Linden is very poor. Why? [Because] everything we consume in Linden, comes [from] out of Linden,” Greene said while contending that the majority of the different types of food such as vegetables, meats, grains and dairy products, sold in Linden come from Georgetown, and as far as Parika and Berbice. He said the situation is no different in the areas of clothing and hardware materials, notwithstanding the fact that the district is resource rich.
Greene posited that failure to reverse the current trend would only leave Region 10 underdeveloped, and strapped for cash.
“So we trying to trap some of our cash right here, turn it over right here; that’s the only way we will go forward,” he posited while also underscoring the importance of simultaneous acquiring added revenues from external sources from exports.
“You see charity begins at home and we want to start here, we want to ensure that we cover here and also abroad because the nature of our farming is not small farming is large farming,” the Treasurer said while expressing the hope that one day the Madinah Strait brand would be recognized globally.
CHALLENGES
But while the Co-op intends to expand its operation in the not so distant future to cater for value added products, Greene said there are challenges that the Society must overcome, but support would be required for the solutions to be effective.
Firstly, the Co-op Society is hoping to acquire additional land but with Region 10 containing the largest portion of hilly sand and clay area in the country, Greene said it important to understand the types of crops that are best grown in sandy soil, and further, what techniques and chemicals could be best used to make the soil much more fertile.
With intervention from the Linden Chamber, and its Manager, the Co-op Society has been receiving much needed technical assistance from the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) in the area of soil testing and soil management. The tests were recently conducted on the soil along the Madinah Strait and the results are pending. In the interim, the farmers are planting crops traditionally grown in sandy soil.
“Right now we have some crops that are adapting to the soil like pine, coconuts, those are adapting to the soil, but we have some crops that we would have to assist the soil, so we are awaiting the results and further advice from the soil testing technician and agronomist from NAREI,” Greene said.
Further, he said additional assistance is needed to clear the forested areas, reminding that only approximately 20 per cent of the 1000 acres of land has been cleared. The treasurer said that 90 per cent of the land already cleared was done manually, and the Co-op wrote the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) for assistance. NDIA has since dispatched an excavator and bull dozer to the area.
“We are not producing a heavy amount of crops now, but with this type of assistance that we have right now, in the future, we will be not just a Co-op by name but we will be a Co-op that would set a standard so that other Co-op must follow,” he posited.
Weighing in on the issue, Sargeant while acknowledging the need for further clearing, said the assistance given by NDIA ought not to be understated. “On the surface of it, is just an excavator and a bull dozer that are clearing land but it is more than that. Every time the bull dozer works, there are costs involved, and those costs are absorbed by government, and so I don’t want to belittle the efforts government has made in terms of helping us. They have actually done quite a lot because if you add the cost, it will actually run into millions of dollars,” he posited.
Access to water is another challenge facing the farmers, the Co-op Society’s Secretary (ag) Aldrin Reid told Village Voice Guyana, noting that while the area allocated to Madinah Strait is easily accessible, it is lacking in the terms of drainage and irrigation.
“The location of our Co-op is a very strategic area. We are at point where we are easily accessible in terms of access to our farms, and most importantly access to market but the challenge now is bringing the water to the farms, from the gully areas more to the farm lands, and members on both sides of the road,” Reid said.
He was keen on pointing out that there are farms located on both sides of the Linden-Mabura Road, and that creates another challenge in accessing water. Due to the fact that the farm is not located within a developed area, the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) has not developed water network in the area.
Lynburn Jackson, one of the farmers within the Madinah Strait Agricultural Co-op Society, told Village Voice he plants both cash crops and permanent crops.
Those crops include, bitter cassava, black sorrel, soursop, pigeon peas, pak choi, pineapples, papaya, bora, sweet potato and peppers of various varieties. Additionally, he has 1,000 pineapples under cultivation.
But while he often seeks to capitalize on the rainy season, Jackson said his biggest problem remains access to water. “But as we go along, we have learn to adapt here. There are certain crops that come really, really good in this soil, like the pine and the sorrel, pigeon peas. From English potato right down to garlic can grow right here on this soil but the problem here is water, you need a regular supply of water, and that is the biggest challenge here,” he told this publication.
Jackson said there can be a temporary solution but it would require help from the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) and NDIA. “There is a swamp there, if it can be excavated and clean out, it can be like a catchment area with pipelines, and the pipelines can be shared,” the 54-year-old farmer opined.
Water aside, Jackson, who was encouraged to take up large scale farming based on a speech given my former President David Granger, said there is a fungus in the soil that is drying up the leaves.
To combat their soil and water challenges, the farmers are also turning to hydroponics. Hydroponics, a type of horticulture and a subset of hydroculture, is a method of growing plants, usually crops, without soil, by using mineral nutrient solutions in an aqueous solvent.
According to Greentrees Hydroponics, hydroponic farming uses considerably less water than soil gardening, due to the constant reuse the nutrient solutions. Due to lack of necessity, fewer pesticides are used on hydroponic crops.
