December 30 2024 – – Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha has provided updates on key initiatives, including the construction of a state-of-the-art Tissue Culture Laboratory at the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) in Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara.
Speaking at the Ministry’s end-of-year press conference today at its boardroom on Regent Street, Georgetown, the Minister announced that the project, valued at $402.5 million, is a collaboration with the Energy Resource Institute of India. Construction began on March 20, 2024, with $179 million allocated for the building and $223 million for advanced laboratory equipment. The facility is expected to be operational by the first quarter of 2025.
He highlighted that the new lab will significantly enhance Guyana’s agricultural capacity. Once completed, it will produce millions of plantlets annually, a dramatic increase from the current output of just under 15,000.
Minister Mustapha described this as a “game-changer,” the lab will produce a wide variety of crops, including pineapples, plantains, breadfruit, sweet potatoes, coconuts, blackberries, sugarcane, cassava, citrus, ginger, strawberries, and raspberries. These efforts aim to reduce the country’s food import bill while ensuring crops are free from pests and diseases.
He added that currently, Guyana has 11 nurseries across the country, but they lack the capacity to meet the growing demand for plantlets. The Tissue Culture Laboratory will address this gap and enable large-scale cultivation of high-demand crops.
This initiative also supports the diversification of Guyana’s agricultural sector, with benefits extending to local and export markets. The minister emphasized that crops such as berries, which are currently imported, will soon be cultivated locally on a larger scale.
Minister Mustapha expressed optimism that this initiative would position Guyana as a regional leader in agriculture. noting that the leadership put forward by Guyana will see a number of countries looking towards us to develop their own agriculture sector.
The lab is poised to strengthen Guyana’s agricultural output, reduce reliance on imports, and enhance food security while supporting the nation’s economic growth through agricultural exports.
