GEORGETOWN, Guyana – Guyana says it will import 50,000 high-yielding coconuts from Costa Rica to further advance its coconut industry.
“We have another 50,000 high-yielding coconuts coming from Costa Rica. We are helping farmers to get these varieties so that they can increase and improve their coconut variety,” said Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha.
He told residents of Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo, and Windsor Forest, West Coast Demerara hat every farmer will receive coconuts to resuscitate the country’s coconut industry and that the government has since brought another variety of high-yielding coconut known as the Brazilian Green Dwarf.
Mustapha said close to 60,000 have been brought into the country to date and that the coconut from Bazil produces between 500 to 700 milliliters of water, almost double Guyana’s coconut which holds 300 milliliters of water.
“We want to introduce new types of coconut into our country because it is a very lucrative crop and we want to be a main producer of coconut,” Mustapha said, urging farmers to take advantage of the opportunities available in the agriculture sector.
“When we talk about agriculture, it means that every citizen must have equal access to the opportunities that the government is making available to the farmers,” he said.
