Agriculture Minister, Robert Persaud,Daniel Norris Tigers Jersey, says that for the first quarter of this year the export value in the forestry sector has been close to US$8M and for the same period last year it was about US$12M.However, he pointed out that production has gone up by 25% in the first quarter when compared to last year.The Minister was at the time addressing stakeholders at a roundtable discussion on the effects of the global financial and economic crisis on Guyana’s agriculture sector, which was held at Hotel Tower on Wednesday.According to Minister Persaud, for the first quarter last year Guyana exported close to 40,000 cubic metres and for this year about 16,Wholesale China Jerseys,500 cubic metres was exported.He noted that it is strange for exports to decline but production increases.“There are many reasons that you can attribute to this because if there is a drop in demand one would expect that there will be a drop in production.”Minister Persaud said that it is odd also because forestry resources are not required to be used in a small time frame.“So this tells us that either there is an increase in internal consumption or some other activities are taking place, so that would be an interesting development.” He described the situation as a contradiction.However, the Minister said that apart from forestry, the other sectors are doing well.“From all indications, although there is a unique development in forestry, all the other areas have either been stable or we’ve seen significant increases for the first quarter of this year.”In terms of rice, for the first quarter of this year, Guyana exported in excess of 45,000 tonnes, bringing income in US value close to $25M and for the same period last year only half of that amount was exported, about 22,000 tonnes, bringing in income of approximately US$7.3M.“So for rice we’ve seen a double of the exports for the first quarter and a tripling of the income in terms of the value.”In terms of fisheries export, Minister Persaud said that this is expected to remain stable, based on preliminary indications.Also, for non-traditional exports, he added, the first quarter of last year Guyana would have exported close to 1.8M kilograms of fresh foods and vegetables worth just about $325M and for this year there has been close to 30 to 40 percent increase with almost 2.5M kg of fresh fruit and vegetable bringing up the income.“Although we have been seeing some developments within the forestry with respect to the high value forestry exports, if you look at the other areas you can see that our exports and our income continue to hold.”According to the Minister, the agriculture sector contributes close to 35% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and if the distillery were brought into it perhaps it would make 40%.He added that it is a sector that is largely dependent on the export market for its survival, given the limitations of our internal market.According to the minister, 70 percent of the rice, 80 percent of the sugar, close to 60 percent of our forestry and almost 50 percent of fishery resources goes outside the country.Minister Persaud asserted that the non-traditional sector is one in which there is a greater amount of internal consumption but they are also seeing an increasing amount of exports taking place.“The Agriculture sector is very susceptible; it’s very vulnerable to the effects of what is taking place or what can obtain in the global financial situation.”“Global GDP is expected to contract by as much as 1.7%,Cheap NFL Jerseys Supply, also if you look at low income country growth,Jerseys NFL Wholesale, there too it is projected downward 2.1%.In the Latin American and Caribbean Region, again that region is expected to see a GDP decline.”In terms of Guyana, he said, it is projected that the growth level will be maintained.“The situation, according to the IMF, is much more vulnerable for those countries which are considered low income countries. In fact, the IMF is projecting that in terms of Guyana, in light of the current global financial crisis, our trade vulnerability will be low, our Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) vulnerability will be medium, and remittances would be the area that will be severely hit, but overall the IMF projection is that a country such as Guyana, our vulnerability is considered to be medium,Justin Upton Tigers Jersey, which I think gives us a degree of relief,Jerseys NFL Wholesale, but certainly should not lead to complacency.”Present at the meeting were representatives of