GRDB: Preserving the rice industry –with sustained research and development

RESEARCH has, over the decades, sustained and developed the rice sector in Guyana. Innovative research conducted by the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) has seen rice yields moving from 1.7 tonnes per hectare in the 1960s to over 5 tonnes per hectare in 2016.The GRDB conducts research in four disciplines, namely: Plant Breeding, Agronomy, Entomology and Plant Pathology. These disciplines have seen the release of over five new varieties of rice, among them the aromatic strain, for commercial cultivation purposes all across the country.

The Board is currently conducting research on a number of other varieties, which are expected to be released in the near future. One such variety will be able to withstand saline conditions. There are currently 120 breeding lines of this variety. Trials are being done at the GRDB Rice Research Station at Burma, Mahaicony, and at Black Bush Polder.
When this variety is released for commercial cultivation, there will be a boost in production within the rice sector, as rice farmers will be able to cultivate on thousands of acres of land that are salt- tolerant, which was never done before.
HIGH-END RICE

The Board is also working on releasing several other aromatic varieties. Aromatic rice is a high-end commodity in great demand on international markets, and carries a favourable price.
The first aromatic variety (GRDB 13) is currently under cultivation in Region 6 (East Berbice-Corentyne). The second crop for 2016, where over 3,000 acres were sown, it will record the highest production of aromatic rice in Guyana.
Trials for other aromatic varieties are being done at the Burma Research Station.

Research is also being done in the area of Blast resistance. Rice blast is consider to be the most important disease in rice cultivation, because of its widespread distribution and destruction under favourable weather conditions.
Blast can cause severe yield losses of up to 100% in a crop.

Among other forms of research that will help safeguard the rice industry for generations to come are in the areas of disease identification; disease severity; laboratory culture and diagnosis of rice diseases; population dynamics of arthropods in the rice ecosystem; and management strategies for snails affecting rice production.

While the GRDB will continue to passionately conduct research on the production of rice to sustain and evolve the industry, it must be noted that it takes years of research to release one variety for commercial cultivation, but once that variety is released, it has an exceptional effect on the rice sector in Guyana.

 

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :
Facebook
Twitter
WhatsApp

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

All our printed editions are available online
emblem3
Subscribe to the Guyana Chronicle.
Sign up to receive news and updates.
We respect your privacy.