By Brad Haire
University of Georgia
University of Georgia farm experts are helping the Amerindians
of Guyana grow peanuts better. They’re trying to preserve the
region’s environment and provide a staple, moneymaking crop for
the impoverished South American natives.
“The Amerindians are economically disadvantaged in an already
poor country,” said Bob Kemerait, a plant pathologist with the
UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. “Peanuts
provide a staple food source for their villages and can give
them a much-needed source of cash income.”
Kemerait and other CAES scientists are teaching the Amerindians
how to use fertilizers and other farm management tools to grow
peanuts in an environmentally friendly way.
They’re also showing them how to store the peanuts and avoid the
development of aflatoxin, a group of potentially deadly toxins
produced by fungi.
A $350,000 U.S. Agency for International Development grant funds
the project, which started three years ago and will continue for
at least two more. It’s coordinated through the UGA Peanut
Collaborative Research Support Program, in cooperation with the
Beacon Foundation in Guyana.
Kemerait and UGA Extension Service soil scientist Glen Harris,
engineer Jay Williams and entomologist Steve Brown have all made
several trips to Guyana, as have plant pathology researcher Dave
Wilson and department head John Sherwood.
Remote peanuts
Guyana is in northern South America. It’s about 1.4 times the
size of Georgia. About 770,000 people live there. Amerindians
make up 7 percent of the population.
The Amerindians live in the Rupununi region in southern Guyana,
known for its vast savannah. To grow peanuts, they cut and burn
the surrounding forest. The ashes from the burn fertilize the
ground. The scientists are showing them a better way to farm.
Many farm chemicals and fertilizers aren’t easily available to
the Amerindians’ remote villages. “But some of them are starting
to seek out these common farm tools because they understand the
benefit of using them,” Kemerait said.
Amerindians, he said, have grown peanuts for more than 50 years.
They transport their peanuts north to sell in Georgetown,
Guyana’s capital, which is on the Atlantic Ocean. Roads are
scarce and in poor condition. Transportation is slow. Perishable
crops like vegetables spoil before they can reach the Georgetown
markets.
The Amerindians have learned to be businessmen, too, and to
think about supply and demand. They are now selling peanut
butter made with their peanuts to a school lunch program.
Good variety
The scientists are conducting field tests in the region. What
they learn can help the Amerindians farm better, Kemerait said.
But it can also help farmers back home.
Disease-resistant peanut varieties that may help Georgia farmers
can be found in Guyana and other South American countries, he
said. Scientists call the variety the Amerindians grow the
Guyana Jumbo. It has strong resistance to diseases like peanut
leaf spot and rust that cause problems for Georgia growers.
The Amerindians will never produce enough peanuts to compete
with American farmers, Kemerait said. Guyana imports U.S.-grown
peanuts.
“Our work will hopefully allow them to improve their lot in
life,” Kemerait said.
The Amerindians of Guyana have a lot of land and water at their
disposal to grow a crop like peanuts, he said.
The Makushi and Wapishana tribes the UGA team have worked with
live in simple mud homes with no running water or electricity,
he said. They’re a shy, quiet people. Men, women and children
work in the fields. A large farm would be 5 acres.
To plant a field, the Amerindians drag a hoe, or a board that
has many hoes fixed to it, across the ground to make rows. They
plant seeds and cover them with dirt by hand. They dig peanuts
from the ground with a pitch fork and dry them in the field.
Then they pick and shell them by hand and store them in sacks.
