| Farmers of Bartica, in Region Seven were excited to be a part of the commissioning of the recently completed tilapia ponds at the National Agriculture Research Institute (N.A.R.I.) Station at 1 ½ Miles Bartica/Potaro Road. Farmers from a number of communities in the Lower Mazaruni and Cuyuni were present.A plaque from the United Embassy, Claritza Juarez was given to Lawrence Louie for the stationRepresentatives were drawn from Agatash, Karrau, Batavia, Four Miles Housing Scheme, Bartica/Potaro Road (1-4 Miles Area) and the agricultural students from the Three Miles Secondary School.This project was the initiative of a series of development project spearheaded by agriculture volunteer, Tessie Bugarin, from the Philippines attached to the Volunteer Services Organisation (V.S.O.) Guyana.The main focus was for the station to be an active demonstration centre for secured livelihood of farmers and to motivate them to practice more organic and inexpensive methods of farming without fertilizers and pesticides.The farmers were given workshops with certificates on their competence in these areas including seed technology, gathering seeds and the importance of proper crop rotation to the soil.Poultry rearing was the first phase of the United States Embassy involvement in the restoration of the demonstration centre. The construction of a new fence in collaboration with N.A.R.I. was the first agenda, a demonstrative chicken pen and compose shed with live production of chickens for sustainability of the project were included.The next phase was a construction of a guard hut,Air Max Scontate Donne, a pond for tilapia rearing, another for duckweed production as an alternative protein source in both chicken and tilapia feeds, however both ponds will be up and running in the next two months as promised by Lawrence Louie. In addition, a plucking area for the chicken farm was included in this phase of the project.Regional Chairman, Holbert Knights, has encouraged farmers in his speech that the next stage should be adding value to their produce to ensure a secured variety of markets/consumers for their goods such as packaging, new varieties of crops and deboning/ cleaning of fish and chicken.The ceremony was organised by the agriculture staff of Region Seven, Lawrence Louie, the Agricultural Officer; Uzziel Hernandez, Livestock Assistant: and Tricia Williams, a Crops Officer.They are now the managers of the facility. Ms. Bugarin returned home at the end of her contract last year. They have continued to persevere for excellence in their fields and to visit farmers as much as possible, taking into consideration that Region Seven is the second largest region geographically in Guyana.They are currently involved in the Acoushi ants control program in Batavia, Lower Mazaruni.The division of the United States Embassy that has been on board for two years is the Humanitarian Assistant Programme. HAP. Director Joe Vanty, as well as Coordinator Claritza Juarez, and Medical Co-ordinator Jerry Schofield, were present.In Schofield speech, he said, “Give a man fish and he can eat for a day, but teach a man to fish and he can feed his family for a life time.”He encouraged that farmers should see this inspiration as the demonstration of the station’s aim to teach farmers to ensure food security in the region for generations to come.The ceremony ended with the handing over of a plaque from the United States Embassy, Claritza Juarez, to Lawrence Louie for the station and a tree planting ceremony commemorating life through agriculture. |
