Coconut cultivation to grow by 5000 acres this year; processing facility to be established

The Government has set aside $195 million to further expand the local coconut industry, with goals of expanding cultivation by 5000 acres and establishing a facility to process coconut waste.

This is according to Budget 2026, which was presented by Senior Minister within the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance Dr Ashni Singh on Monday.

“The coconut industry is poised for rapid expansion as the Government continues to encourage and facilitate investments by the private sector. In the next five years, we aim to promote the development of the industry through a series of interventions, including the distribution of more than one million high-yielding coconut seedlings and the promotion of more diversified value-added coconut-based products,” Dr Singh noted.

Last year, he disclosed that 63,000 high-yielding, pest-resistant seed nuts were imported, 58,370 seedlings produced, and over 2000 acres of coconut cultivated.

In 2026, he said, cultivation is expected to expand by 5000 acres, and more high-yielding coconut seedlings will be distributed.

Additionally, the government intends to construct a state-of-the-art industrial facility for the processing of coconut waste and promote value-added coconut products and by-products.

According to a 2025 report from the Department of Public Information (DPI), coconut currently ranks as the third-highest income earner in Guyana’s agricultural sector.

This is as a result of the Government’s aggressive National Coconut Decentralisation Programme (NCDP), which commenced in 2020 with the commissioning of a $1.1 million coconut nursery at Kairuni along the Soesdyke-Linden Highway in December of that year.

In the first year of the Peoples Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration, Guyana exported $2.5 billion worth of coconuts and related products. To further increase productivity, 13,000 Brazilian dwarf coconut seed nuts were imported by the Ministry of Agriculture’s Hope Coconut Industries Limited (HCIL) in 2023, at a cost of $12 million.

This investment promises faster maturity and higher yield per annum. Moreover, this new variety is less susceptible to diseases. Some 3000 more Brazilian coconut seedlings were subsequently given to approximately 120 farmers in Pomeroon, enabling them to yield approximately 240 coconuts per tree.

Coconut production in 2023 reached 40,000, supplemented by the importation of an additional 13,000.

Nurseries were also commissioned in Regions Two, Three, Four, Six, and 10 in 2024.

In Region One, a coconut nursery was constructed and stocked for $4.3 million in Hosororo Village. The Ministry also partnered with experts to provide training programmes for farmers, invested in coconut shredders, and improved facilities, which include compound fencing and the construction of shade houses.