Eight areas of cooperation and collaboration are being developed between TT and Guyana, of which coconuts, rice, and corn and soya are three of the areas which have begun to bear fruit.

Speaking during a joint select committee on foreign affairs exploring “deepening existing ties” with Guyana on Wednesday, Agriculture, Land and Fisheries Ministry deputy permanent secretary Ric Javed Ali said following covid19, the Caribbean region’s food import bill has continued to rise and food production has been on decline due to high trade costs, the impact of climate change, and barriers to inter-regional trade.

“A Guyana-TT food development plan was drafted following the visit of a TT delegation from the ministry to Guyana in July 2022. Eight priority areas were developed for cooperation and collaboration between the two countries. The ministry is actively pursing these areas, with current focus on coconuts and rice, through a jointly established TT-Guyana task force on the promotion of bilateral agricultural trade and development.

He said the eight priority areas include aquaculture, rice, human resources, agro-processing and food distribution, livestock production, shade-house and coconuts, the technical task force, and corn and soya.

TT’s representatives on the task form are minister in the ministry Avinash Singh, and chief technical officer Dr Simone Titus, along with the director of research, the officer with respect to trade in fresh commodities of crops, and also livestock, among others.

Agriculture ministry technical adviser Nigel Grimes said engagement had begun with its Guyanese counterparts on the points of focus.

“We received 5,000 coconut seeds in February, gifted to us by the government of Guyana, as we seek to modernise and revitalise our local coconut industry. We have started to grow them out and intend to share them to coconut farmers throughout TT.

“We have also started looking at rice production. Even though Guyana is a large exporter of rice, we have significant acreage previously cultivated with rice production which has declined over the years. We engaged with technical support and the provision of rice seeds, so in 2023 we propose to increase our local rice production by 1,500 acres and we have engaged farmers who used to produce rice to re-engage in that area. We are in the process of receiving approximated 91 tonnes of rice seed for this rice season starting in June. In additional to the traditional rice varieties, we are also looking at the aromatic rice varieties such as basmati and jasmine.”

Grimes said there had been discussions about corn and soya, two key commodities needed for livestock and animal feed. He said Guyana would be increasing production, and since TT imports large quantities, “we are looking to see how local investment can be facilitated to partner with Guyanese counterparts, investors, producers, so we can tap in to be able to access corn and soya from Guyana.”

He said the task force was working toward achieving TT’s contribution to the Caricom decision of hav