Dear Vas,  

Greetings.  We  came  back  from  the  fields  last  Friday.  While  we  are  cognizant  of  the  fact  that  your representative, Mr  Carl  shall be informing you about the trip, we feel it 
professional  to  also  tell  you  our  own  outlook.  As  Zerof,  Inc.,  we  do  believe  that  the  trip  was  a  success  and  that  the  work we have been doing with the farmers, especially 
mobilisation and contractual farming has had a positive impact.  

IPED  was  able  to  visit  and  verify  the  cleared  farmlands  and the owners. They also took the names and details of farmers who will be accessing funding from the institution. 
We  have  provided  IPED  with numbers even before going to the communities. We, however, welcome their initiative of especially  assessing the feasibility of the investment. 
We  do  not  think  this  should  really  take  long.  We  tested  the  soils  last  year.  IPED  will also be doing the same. This will provide us with an opportunity to draw comparisons. 
Zerof  has  also  secured  an  area  for the establishment of nursery (to maintain standards, we shall be selling seedlings, not seeds to the farmers). We also propose to establish 
asap the model farm (5 acres). This land was visited by the team. 

One  of  the  challenges  that  came  up  in  the  visit  was  the  transportation  process  of  the  products  to  the  production  premises.  Some  of  the  options  that  came  up  in  the 
brainstorming process were: 

● The most appropriate route would be through Linden 

● Farmers may have to use a boat to load the products onto a truck across the river ( one of the tributaries of river Berbice) 
● It would be cost effective for farmers to transport their products as a group not individually 
● Zerof  Inc.  took  up  this  challenge  seriously  and  held  a  meeting  over  the  weekend.  In  this  meeting  it  was  recognised  that  through  the  registered  community 
group, there is a possibility to secure a truck that will help to transport the products . 

Whereas we are positive about this project, its implementation phase still awaits; 

a) The discussion and signing of contract with IPED and; 

b) The discussion and signing of contract with DDL. 

We look forward to the commencement of the project as soon as those contracts are signed.  

We  have  planned  to  meet  IPED  this  week  and  likewise,  we  are  wondering  whether  we  would  be  possible  to  meet  with  you  and  the  team  this  week  to  commence  the 
discussions leading to the drafting and eventual signing of the contract.