Results from the onion trial at the National Agriculture Research and Extension Institute (Photo: NAREI)
On Monday, Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh presented the country’s 2024 National Budget, where it was announced the allotment of $97.6 billion to the agriculture sector.
This portion of the historic 2024 Budget will support the Government’s plan to “advance and catalyze agriculture development”.
“Guyana’s vast agricultural potential is poised to be realized, and our country is well on its way to becoming the true agricultural heartland of the Caribbean”.
Dr. Singh, in his presentation at the Arthur Chung Conference Center, reminded the National Assembly of the Government’s commitment to the development, transformation, diversification and expansion of the agriculture sector.
Of the $97.6 billion worth of allocations, $6 billion was budgeted for the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) to improve the sugar industry, while $1.3 billion was budgeted to the Guyana Rice Development Board to support the rice industry.
In collaboration with the private sector sector, the Government has rolled out a successful corn and soya bean development program. $967.8 million was allotted in the 2024 Budget to improve the capacity of the Tacama facility where these crops are cultivated.
$78 million was budgeted to support the coconut sub-sector, while $100 million was budgeted to support the production of citrus and spices.
The Government’s commitment to diversifying the country’s crop industry led to a sum of $2.6 billion going to the support of other crop interventions.
$527.4 million was budgeted to support agro-processors and provide opportunities for farmers to add value to their products.
The livestock industry will see its activities bolstered by a $1.5 billion allotment, and fisheries and agriculture receiving $1.2 billion for their own development initiatives.
A total of $72.3 billion was budgeted for upgrading and maintenance of the national drainage and irrigation network in 2024. This is almost four times the $19.7 that was budgeted in 2023.