Dear Editor,
Let me take the opportunity, as Guyana celebrates Agriculture Month 2026 under the theme, “Innovate, Nourish, Grow. Building a Sustainable Guyana,” to wish all Guyanese, especially those in the industry, a “Happy Agriculture Month.”
As we celebrate Agriculture Month, it is an appropriate time to examine the transformation taking place in Guyana’s agricultural sector and the role being played by Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha.
This year’s theme speaks directly to the direction in which Guyana’s agriculture is moving: towards greater innovation, increased production, food security, modern technology, climate-smart agriculture, diversification, and stronger opportunities for farmers and agro-processors.
Over the years, the agricultural sector has seen tremendous growth and significant progress with investments by the Government of Guyana.
Those who know me would know that I love to compare where we were and where we are today, because without reflecting on the past, we cannot better the future. And we must appreciate the progress being made today; we must remember where the sector was when the PPP/C returned to office in 2020.
Between 2015 and 2020, agriculture under the PNC government (mind you, although it was an APNU+AFC administration, the PNC was the dominator), Guyana’s agricultural sector was faced with significant challenges.
The farmers were confronted with increased production costs, higher land rents, increased drainage and irrigation charges, and taxes on agricultural inputs, which led to a decline in activities in several subsectors of the industry and, more so, a solid punch to cripple the sugar industry and economy by the PNC through the closure of major sugar estates.
The PNC’s policies placed additional pressure on farmers and agricultural communities at a time when the sector required greater investment and support. Under the PNC (APNU+AFC) administration, farmers were faced with higher costs, substantial increases in land rents and drainage and irrigation charges.
In the Mahaica, Mahaicony and Abary Agricultural Development Authority area, land rents increased from $1,000 to $7,000 per acre, that’s $6,000 more per acre, while D&I charges increased from $2,500 to $8,000 per acre, that’s $5,500 more. Some of these increases exceeded 600%. I want to mention the amount of the increases because we all know that the PNC (APNU+AFC) is bad at mathematics.
While they have increased the D&I charges, nothing was done to improve that sector, and farmers had to spend from their pockets to have better access to drainage and irrigation within their farmlands. The former minister and PNC government were busy raising their salaries and living the good life.
Our farmers were also facing a 14% VAT on fertilisers, agrochemicals and pesticides, while agricultural machinery and other inputs were subjected to taxes and duties. The effect was straightforward: farmers had to spend more money to produce.
Agriculture between 2015 and 2020 was crippled, or let me say a dead industry, and that’s the truth, with facts.
If the now main opposition point man on agriculture (mind you, he also helps to cripple the industry, esp. sugar) has other facts than those, I am willing to have a go with him; by the way, he is a runner on truth with issues.
When the PPP/C returned to office, these policies were reversed. D&I charges in the MMA area were reduced from as much as $15,000 per acre to $3,500, and that’s approximately $1.3 billion that was back into the hands of Region Five farmers.
The VAT and duties on key agricultural machinery and inputs were also removed, putting more into the pockets of the farmers to further invest. That by itself represents a fundamental change in the relationship between government and farmers; instead of adding to farmers’ production costs, the government moved to reduce them.
Brothers and sisters, the sugar industry suffered one of its most dramatic periods of decline under the PNC government, because they were uneducated on how to run a country and its industries. In 2015, GuySuCo produced approximately 231 tonnes of sugar. From 2016 under the PNC and its sitting agri minister, production fell to approximately 183,000 tonnes, and further to approximately 92,256 tonnes in 2019.
To add salt to the wound, the APNU+AFC administration went on to close major sugar estates, resulting in thousands of workers losing their jobs, and more than 7,000 workers were displaced following the estates closures.
Brothers and sisters, the impact went far beyond the workers themselves. The entire communities depended on the sugar estates for employment, commerce, transportation, and social services. When the estates were closed, the economic consequences were felt throughout the communities surrounding them.
Moreover, families were put to hunger as sugar workers found it hard to put food on their tables. The AFC and PNC didn’t care about the well-being of those families but rather for themselves.
The PPP/C subsequently reopened the Rose Hall Estate, supported former sugar workers and invested in the rehabilitation and modernisation of the industry. By 2025, thousands of former workers had been rehired, and significant investments had been made in sugar production and infrastructure.
The problems and decline were not limited to the sugar industry alone, but extended into other areas of agriculture as well.
The non-traditional crop exports declined by approximately 10%, from about 11,000 tonnes in 2015 to 9,907 tonnes in 2020, while agro-processing exports declined by approximately 45% over the same period. There were also declines in aquaculture production and the withdrawal of investors from parts of the sector.
These figures are particularly important because agricultural transformation cannot take place without investment. Farmers need markets. Entrepreneurs need confidence. Agro-processors need reliable supplies. Investors need infrastructure and an environment in which agricultural businesses can expand.
Under Minister Zulfikar Mustapha and the PPP government, the approach has been different. The minister focused on reducing farmers’ costs, rebuilding infrastructure, expanding markets, increasing production, strengthening research and extension services, encouraging diversification and attracting investment. Agriculture received substantially greater financial attention after 2020.
The agricultural expenditure from 2020 to 2023 totalled approximately $122 billion, compared with approximately $93 billion over five years under APNU+AFC. Agricultural allocation was $15.4 billion in 2014 compared with $13.1 billion in 2019. The difference is not simply about how much money is allocated. It is about where that investment is going and what it is intended to accomplish.
Guyana’s rice production reached more than 725,000 tonnes in 2024, and rice remains one of the clearest examples of the sector’s expansion.
With the interventions of the minister and, by extension, the government, these have included expanded markets, lower input costs, fertiliser support, improved drainage and irrigation, new seed varieties, flood relief and crop-insurance initiatives. The objective of the interventions has been to create an environment where farmers can produce more, access markets and remain competitive.
Under the leadership of Minister Mustapha, today’s agricultural transformation is also about moving away from traditional methods alone.
The minister, during the launch of Agriculture Month 2026, highlighted the growing use of drones, precision irrigation, digital agriculture, research, mechanisation and climate-smart production systems.
Today, the ministry is also using digital platforms to make services more accessible to farmers, including producers in Regions One, Nine and 10, who may otherwise have to travel long distances to access government services.
This is precisely where the 2026 Agriculture Month theme, “Innovate, Nourish, Grow. Building a Sustainable Guyana” becomes relevant. Agriculture in Guyana has evolved with technology. It has become more productive, more efficient, more resilient to climate change, and more commercially oriented.