– to help in achieving food security goals

At the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI), scientists, farmers, and officials gathered to mark the commissioning of the new tissue culture laboratory.

The facility will be able to produce up to one million plantlets annually, a big jump from fifty thousand annually, which is a fiftyfold increase from the current output. These will include key crops like plantain, cassava, banana, and pineapple, all disease-free and ready for large-scale distribution to farmers across Guyana.

Speaking at the commissioning ceremony, Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha highlighted that government is making a big push to increase the number of plantlets offered to farmers.

The project is part of Guyana’s wider effort to modernize agriculture using biotechnology and research driven solutions.

Scientists say the new lab marks a major turning point for agricultural innovation in Guyana, especially as the world continues to grow. This was the view of Samantha Weever, a researcher attached to NAREI.