Georgetown : The newly appointed Guyana Prison Service’s (GPS) Agriculture Development Board aims to have the correctional agency improve its agricultural production. The Chairman of this recently appointed board, Dr. Simpson Da Silva said this will be done in several ways as the GPS seeks to move towards greater food sufficiency and security.
Dr. Da Silva recalled that as an agricultural officer in the 1970s, the Prison Service always highlighted their produce at exhibitions across Guyana. “The best cows, the best sheep, the best pigs, goats, the best products used to come from the Guyana Prison Service, but unfortunately that is not the case now,” he said. The intention, he added, is to bring back a sense of respect and a sense of excellence to the GPS’ agenda.
All stakeholders will be involved in accomplishing this, he explained. “The Ministry of Agriculture is involved now, but it needs to be involved in an aggressive way,” he stated. He aims to have, at every farming location, other stakeholders who have the skills to help with the development of the GPS’s farms located at Mazaruni, Timehri, Lusignan and New Amsterdam.
The Board Chairman said that they have already visited the Mazaruni Prison farm and made several recommendations to improve some of the management practices and give technical advice at the Essequibo location. Some of these include changes to the pens for cows and pigs. “We are going to double sheep production. We’ll do the same for cows because the potential is there. We will also introduce apiculture (bee rearing) because the diversity in that area is awesome.” The bees will also assist in the pollination of fruits and vegetables that will be cultivated.
Dr. Da Silva pointed out that very soon the Mazaruni farm output will make Guyana very proud, “with respect to what our agriculture policy position ought to be.”
The first intention is have the Mazaruni Prison become self-sufficient and then excess produce will be sent to other locations. This will result in an “Integrated Farming System” with animal and plant waste being recycled and used for fertilisers. The chairman said, “This could become a model for Guyana to follow.”
