Region Nine to buy peanut shellers to boost industry

The Regional Democratic Council (RDC) of the Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo is to procure peanut shellers to boost the industry’s prospects.

The Department of Public Information (DPI) said that Regional Chairman, Bryan Allicock made the announcement during a community engagement in Aranaputa on Saturday. The meeting was led by Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall.

DPI said that the decision followed complaints from farmers about low peanut sales over the years which has worsened due to the pandemic.

Region Nine farmer Carl Abraham said, “95 per cent of us today have peanuts in our homes right now. The problem is that we have not been getting markets for a couple of years now.”

In response, the Regional Chairman, according to DPI said that Vice President

Bharrat Jagdeo has “instructed” the Ministry of Agriculture “to see where they can source these shellers to have them bought and brought to the region.”

The shellers will make the peanuts more marketable since they would be easily processed for other food products, DPI said.

Allicock added that the Vice President requested that the Regional Executive Officer (REO) report on the amount of farine available in the Region so as to source markets. To this end, the REO, Karl Singh, has engaged a prospective investor with assistance from the Guyana Marketing Corporation. Discussions are also underway for the Government to purchase farine from farmers within the region to be distributed in COVID-19 relief hampers.