Minister Persaud commissions $10.4M cold storage trucks
-to aid in the export of local produce

In an effort to diversify the agriculture sector and to further assist farmers as it relates to the export of local produce, Government has made available two cold storage trucks as the Ministry of Agriculture continues to promote agriculture diversification, with the aim of positioning Guyana as a major supplier of food.
             It is also in keeping with the Ministry’s ‘Grow More Food Campaign’ which is aimed at increasing production and exports.
            Minister Persaud during the commissioning ceremony at the Sophia packaging facility today, said that the initiative is to allow farmers to significantly boost and fulfill the demands of non-traditional crops in the export market.

Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud and General Manager, New Guyana Marketing Corporation, Nizam Hassan inspect new cold storage trucks at the Sophia packaging facility

            He added that the project which has already seen the installation of a cold storage facility at Parika will provide a readily available service to farmers at a nominal cost to transport agricultural produce for export.
            “We need to see this in the context of what we are doing in terms of agriculture diversification and promoting of agricultural produce and also this feeds in what we are doing overall in our grow more campaign. This is just one component of the overall diversification efforts,” he said.
            The Agriculture Minister, said that the Administration will continue to invest in the economy to ensure that farmers’ livelihood are safeguarded.
            Government has recognised the potential for other crops, livestock and aquaculture in the development of the country and as such has been channelling substantial amounts of resources to provide the necessary infrastructure, technical assistance and training to equipment farmers with necessary skills to explore and venture into new opportunities in the agriculture sector.
            “We are not trying to build the logistics, this is usually done by the exporter or the private sector but we are building that logistics to supply our farmers and I want to thank the Venezuelan Government which has been a very important partner in realizing this component,” he added.

Cold Storage trucks

            The initiative is also aimed at improving the lives of residents of poor rural communities, especially small-scale producers to increase productivity, develop market strategies and business plans for cold chain development.
Government has been working with a number of institutions and the Governments of China and United States through grants and concessional resources so as to significantly increase its exports and output in terms of production.
 The $10.4M cold storage trucks were financed under a non-reimbursable grant from the ALBA funds of the Venezuelan Government. It is part of a project to improve the cold storage chain for non-traditional agriculture produce.