Guyana expects about 1,000 pregnant heifers to arrive from Brazil under its livestock development programme, with the next shipment due in about a week. Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha gave the timetable on Wednesday on the sidelines of the launch of Agriculture Month activities.

Around 300 of the animals are already in Guyana. Mr Mustapha said the first consignment was smaller than the eventual target and that the remainder will arrive in stages. Further shipments are expected over the coming weeks. In July the ministry described the first 300 as the opening shipment under the National Herd Expansion Programme.

The staggered timetable follows from quarantine rules. The minister said the animals must complete a quarantine period before they can enter the country, and that quarantine has begun for those still in Brazil. Such periods allow veterinary authorities to check animals for disease before they join local herds. He added that logistical matters affecting the timing of shipments had to be settled, which accounts for the size of the first arrival.“I think they have all the mechanisms in place,” he said. The reports of his remarks do not say how many animals the next shipment will contain. 

The heifers are expected to strengthen the national breeding herd and improve livestock genetics. Those are the stated aims, and no projections for milk or beef output were offered. Mr Mustapha has previously linked the programme to beef and dairy production, and has said the animals will support the food hub being built at Yarrowkabra. He had earlier said that discussions were continuing with a Brazilian company about bringing in 1,000 head of cattle.

The ministry has previously said the cattle completed veterinary health inspections and testing, along with quarantine requirements, before export, and that they meet Guyana's animal health import standards. The chief executive of the Guyana Livestock Development Authority, Dwight Walrond, has said the animals completed mandatory quarantine in Brazil before officials inspected them again on arrival at Lethem.

The arrival of the first animals drew a public challenge in July. An opposition figure alleged that about 300 cattle had crossed from Boa Vista in Brazil through Lethem without clearance from public health bodies or the Guyana Revenue Authority. The ministry rejected the claim and said the animals were the first official shipment of the planned 1,000.

The programme sits alongside other livestock measures. Guyana received 1,000 Black Belly sheep from Barbados, and Mr Mustapha has said the national flock has since grown to just over 3,000. He has also pointed to artificial insemination and, for the first time in the country's history, embryo transfer. Separately, Demerara Distillers Limited has imported 89 pregnant heifers for dairy production, a move the minister welcomed as a step towards reducing reliance on imported dairy products.

Mr Mustapha spoke at the National Exhibition Complex in Sophia, where this year's Agriculture Month was launched under the theme "Innovate, Nourish, Grow: Building a Strong and Sustainable Guyana". The next shipment of heifers is expected in about a week.

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