Ministry of Agriculture receives US $714,504 in equipment to support extension services

The Ministry of Agriculture today received equipment to the tune of US $714,504 to further strengthen extension services offered to farmers.
The items were handed over at the Ministry’s Regent street Office in the presence of the Minister and included six 4×4 pickup vehicles, six all-terrain vehicles, 6 outboard boats and engines, and 24 off-road motorcycles.

This was acquired through funding from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) under the Ministry’s Agriculture Sector Development Unit’s Sustainable Agriculture Development Project (SADP).

Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha said that extension officers have a critical role to play in the development of Guyana’s agriculture sector.
The equipment will be allocated to various agencies such as the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) and the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA), targeting farmers in extensive areas where access is usually an issue.

Just recently, the ministry hosted its first extension service training exercise in keeping with the government’s plan of overhauling extension services and improving farmers’ industrious capacity.