Large-scale oil palm investment likely for Guyana

A group of investors are eying Guyana’s arable lands to invest in oil palm cultivation, which can produce four tonnes of crude oil per hectare annually, the Ministry of Agriculture said.

Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the reddish pulp of the fruit of the oil palms.

A team of investors from Agro Atlantic (Guyana) Inc. Friday called on Agriculture Minister, Noel Holder and Chief Executive Officer of the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI), Dr Oudho Homenauth at the Ministry’s Regent and Shiv Chanderpaul Drive office to discuss the prospects of Oil Palm in Guyana.

According to a press release, the investors have since provided a proposal which could see some 100,000 hectares of land brought under cultivation. The process, once given the green-light by the Ministry of Agriculture, will be completed in stages.

Bruce Jupiter, Director of Agro Atlantic (Guyana) Inc. stated that while the company is looking to expand its oil palm production, it has identified Guyana as one of the most feasible investment opportunities for expansion.

“Region Six is the likely areas of interest for our project which will include the establishment of an Oil Mill and Refinery as well as downstream processing facilities. As this will be the first of its operation in Guyana, a lot of preliminary work including soil feasibility study, rainfall records, soil analysis and investigations, topographic structure, social-economic impact, environmental impact assessment and others are also needed,” he is quoted as saying.

The statement said the investment opportunity was welcomed by the Agriculture Minister who stated that such an investment is necessary even as his Ministry continues to push for value-added production. He added, that once the project materialized it will be the first of its kind and something which can attract other investors can use to follow suit.

The company will be working along with NAREI who will be providing guidance on soil analysis.