Government Grants 7 Acres of Land to Revolutionary Guyana Grape Grower

18th of July, 2022. Region 6, Guyana, South America. GSA News.

Guyana is a country of tremendous natural resources, but its most valuable asset is its human resources, and the government of Guyana has been quick to recognize and reward talent. A Guyanese man from Region 6, who has harnessed the power of human ingenuity to do the impossible, has been rewarded by the government with 7 acres of fertile farmland.

Prior to the pioneering work of Mr. Devon Gilead, the famous Guyana Grape Grower, growing grapes in Guyana was considered a virtual impossibility. After all, it was believed that grapes thrive well in temperatures slightly below that of Guyana and so Guyanese agriculturalists had ruled out the possibility of growing grapes in Guyana. Mr. Devon Gilead has changed the game.

Growing up in Glasglow Village, East Bank Berbice, Region 6, Gilead recalls childhood memories of relatives returning from the US with handfuls of apples and grapes which would be carefully divided among friends and family because of its scarcity. He told a story of having received just 1 apple and 4 grapes which was brought back from the US by a relative. Gilead wondered why he, as a Guyanese, couldn’t be free to eat as many grapes as he wished. And therein was born the dream of growing his own grapes in Guyana.

Doing the Impossible

Fueled by his childhood dream, Devon Gilead set out to do the impossible: growing grapes in Guyana, South America. Seeking advice from agriculturists in Guyana, Devon was told that grapes could not be grown in Guyana, but only in regions of much cooler temperature such as the United States and Canada. But Devon didn’t take their word for granted. He started to conduct his own investigations, and unearthed some game-changing knowledge. He discovered that the PH of the soil is the greatest contributing factor in determining whether the grapes would thrive or perish. A PH of 5.5 to 7.0 is recommended for grapes.

Armed with this newfound knowledge, Devon embarked on the challenge of growing grapes in Guyana with renewed zest. He started his first garden of grapes in the backyard of his East Bank Berbice home at Lot 649 Glasglow Housing Scheme, and he acquired his first grape cuttings from a friend who had brought back them from overseas.

Within 8 months, Devon’s grapevines started to bloom, and soon started to produce healthy, dark-red grapes. Very soon after, word of Gilead’s grape growing success in Guyana spread like wildfire. In addition to Media Houses, he was visited by several prominent Ministers of Government including the Minister of Agriculture.

Devon indicated to the Ministry of Agriculture that he would be thankful for land to expand his cultivation of grapes to a commercial scale. The Minister promised him that full support would be given to him for agricultural ambitions and kept to his word. Today,18th of July, 2022. Devon, via his Facebook Page, announced that the government has granted him a whooping 7 acre of farmland for grape cultivation and he has already started preparing the soil for his first vineyard.