Mabaruma, Matarkai spice farmers to supply local distributors

— 250 acres of turmeric, ginger to be harvested by year-end

By Naomi Parris

SOME 250 acres of turmeric and ginger are currently being cultivated at farms in Mabaruma and Matarkai, Region One, and once harvested farmers will be supplying spices to several local distributors across the country.

During an interview with the Guyana Chronicle on Monday, regional coordinator at the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI), Orison Sealy, said that farmers will be supplying spices to the Beharry Group, Mattai’s and Ricks & Sari Agro Industries.

“We have over 300 farmers who are cultivating ginger and turmeric, and in total in Matarkai and Mabaruma sub region it’s like about 714 persons we distributed ginger and turmeric to,” Sealy said.

Additionally, farmers will be able to access agro-processing facilities in the region to further push the local production of by-products.

“If a farmer or a group of farmers is interested in processing the ginger or turmeric and branding it as their product, the factory could do it for them and they pay a small fee, or the factory would buy the raw material from them and process it and sell it directly to a market,” Sealy related.

Meanwhile, to maximise the yields of these crops, some farmers have chosen to intercrop their ginger with cassava and other crops.

He said: “At the moment we are not discouraging the farmers from continuing to produce the normal crops that they produce, because most farmers have mixed variety crops. But for the spices now, what we are doing is to have them cultivate whether [it] is an acre or quarter of an acre, and when harvested, it is guaranteed that they will be able to supply all that produce directly to the factory.”

Additionally, other farmers have opted to plant gliricidia alongside their turmeric and ginger crops.

The gliricidia will also serve as support structures for black pepper vines, which will provide valuable shade to enhance the growth and quality of the turmeric and ginger plants.

Following the successful cultivation of turmeric and ginger in the sub-regions, farmers are gearing up for the upcoming harvesting season in November and December.

Meanwhile, the trial production of mint, black pepper and cinnamon recently began in Aroaima Savannah, Region 10.

NAREI had met with farmers at the Kokerite Bush Concession to discuss expanding the cultivation of spices.

The trial will help in assessing the growth of the plants so that improved strategies can be implemented to increase yields.

It is expected that agricultural production in Region 10 will increase and additional incomes will be garnered for farmers, owing to the expanded production and reduction in the importation of spices.

The government in a bid to increase the production of ginger and turmeric had allocated some $153 million in the 2023 national budget to improve processing capacity at Hosororo, Parika, and Soesdyke/Linden.

This investment will target over 300 tonnes of the output of ginger and turmeric and decrease drying time from three-five days to eight hours per day, directly enhancing productivity.

Additionally, the government will increase seedling distribution to farmers by 100,000 to increase citrus production.

In October 2022, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar

Mustapha had said that the government will continue to work with farmers to boost the productivity of spices.

To boost the production of spices at the Hosororo factory, Region One, Minister Mustapha put into operation several new pieces of machinery to the tune of $9.7 million for the NAREI spiceprocessing plant. These tools included a Vibro sifter, a ginger washer, a ginger slicer, and a ginger grinder.

These investments are in keeping with government’s commitment to increase agricultural production of non-traditional crops and draw Guyana closer to realising the region’s goal to reduce its food-importation bill by 25 per cent by the year 2025.