Brazil assisting Guyana with large scale wheat production

Last Updated on Sunday, 16 October 2022, 20:37 by Denis Chabrol

Brazil is helping Guyana to pilot large-scale production of wheat in the hope that this English-speaking nation can satisfy domestic and regional demand for the cereal grain, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha said on October 16, World Food Day.

In an address to the national launch of World Food Day at Albion, Corentyne, he indicated that the trial for wheat production would be moving to a large scale in Region Nine (Upper Takatu-Upper Essequibo). He said the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA) would be working closely with Guyana’s National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) to plant the acreage of wheat.

“By the end of November, we will start large open field trials – 100 acres at Santa Fe in Region Nine….As long as it’s successful, then Guyana will be able to produce all the wheat needs for our country and the Caribbean,” he said.

Brazil hopes to produce 11.75 million metric tonnes of wheat by the end of 2022, as that South American nation is emerging as a global leader in adapting production of that grain to the tropics.

In May, United States-based Guyanese plant pathologist Professor Pierce Paul had stated that about 30 wheat varieties from a country that has similar growing conditions had been examined by Guyana.

Dr Paul had said that simulation modeling could be done to determine the best location in Guyana to grow the grain and ascertain how well it goes.

Guyana has been taking steps to bolster its fuel and food self-sufficiency, especially since the Russia-Ukraine War has seen global oil and wheat prices skyrocket.

The Guyana government has cited that conflict to partly justify its decision to invite the private sector to build, own and operate a 30,000 barrel per day oil refinery at Crab Island, Berbice River for domestic fuel consumption.