Georgetown: A three day Value-Added pork products workshop recently kicked off with enhanced focused being placed on expanding the industry to better add value to locally produced pork through the production of hams and other pork products.
The event which is spearheaded by the Ministry of Agriculture’s Rural Enterprise and Agriculture Development Project and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) brought together small swine producers to explore avenues to tap into value-added production.
Agriculture Minister Hon. Dr. Leslie Ramsammy in delivering remarks at the workshop charged the producers to take the challenge seriously as it can expand into one where Guyana will not need to import value added pork products but can rather supply adequate amount of port and pork products to meet its own demand.
“This workshop is necessary as it can position you to supply the ever growing demand for not only pork but also pork products. While there are a number of constraints facing swine producers such as high cost for pork production, we have seen a trend where pork production is higher than the demand for fresh pork,” he said.
Minister Ramsammy stated that while price movement for the commodity will always occur, there needs to be stronger interventions to increase demand to meet the growing supply to boost the pork industry.
As such, the Ministry of Agriculture with support from IICA will commence work on a business enterprise plan with swine producers to not only meet local demand for value added products, but to position the industry to also tap into the export of pork and pork-products to other countries.
“The fact that Guyana does not import pork on a regular basis shows that the country is self-sufficient in pork production, and, as such, farmers should now work ever harder to expand the sector through the production of value-added pork products,” Minister Ramsammy said.
Thus far, while farmers have been benefiting from the distribution of breeding animals, a series of training exercises are being conducted with Associations/Clusters of Farmers in order for them to become certified and to promote proper animal husbandry.
One of the constraints which have been facing swine farmers is the high cost of feed. To ensure that this becomes a thing of the past, the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) commenced demonstration plots of corn and soya to supply the stock feed industry.
“These were just demonstration plots to show farmers that we can successfully grow corn and soya right here in Guyana to be used in the stock feed industry….farmers and investors have since taken up the challenge and shortly we will be harvesting the first batch of 22 acres of corn and soya in Ebini,” he said .
In addition, the Guyana Livestock Developmental Authority is experimenting with cassava to develop a low-cost feed for swine farmers.
The Agriculture Minister added that despite the limited resources and constraints which may affect farmers, the Ministry will continue to explore all possible measures to advance the industry, hence, the value added workshop.
The workshop which will run until Wednesday attracted scores of swine producers from across the country. It is addressing how to prepare certain pork products, such as pork sausages, pork patties, etc., good hygiene and sanitation practices and business management for swine rearers.
The workshop is being facilitated by Mr. Arnold Mendonca of IICA, and technical sessions are presented by Ms. Audrey Mendonca and Dr. Aubrey Mendonca. Dr. Aubrey Mendonca ia a pork specialist from Iowa State University.
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