Guyana’s cabinet has approved a 49 million Guyana dollars package to help coconut farmers fight a red palm mite infestation affecting the industry.

The money will be used to purchase chemicals, equipment, and safety gear and will be provided to farmers at a subsidized cost to combat this infestation, Minister of State Joseph Harmon said during a post-Cabinet media briefing yesterday.

Coconut crops are located in six of Guyana’s 10 regions – Regions 2, 3, 4 5, 6 and 10 – and Agriculture Minister Noel Holder told Cabinet that Regions 2 and 3 were particularly affected by the red palm mite.

Technical teams have been deployed to assist farmers get rid of the pest, which is considered an invasive species in the Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico, Saint Martin, Trinidad and Tobago, the US Virgin Islands, Haiti, Jamaica and Guyana.

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