THE present crop of rice has been seriously affected by salt which came in from the irrigation water taken directly from rivers in Region 2. The areas mainly affected are Spring Garden, Marias’ Delight, Bush Lot and other parts. Farmers had no other alternative to save their crops but it was advisable that any farmer who anticipated pumping water into these fields should have the water tested.
The rice plants are particularly susceptible to salt at all stages and at the flowering and grain filling stage, yield will be lower, unfilled grains will be higher and chalkiness will increase.
Of the 32, 500 acres which have been sown many acres would be lost because of lack of irrigation water and the slow funding to purchase fuel for the Adwa Pumping Station so water can be stored in the main canal.
No emergency measures were put in place before the El Nino weather phenomenon took its toll for the second time on Guyana’s rice industry.
This would result in the loss of export earnings and short supply earmarked for the domestic market. The production remaining would be exported to CARICOM which would be given first priority, and to the European and other markets.
The Guyana Government should now provide assistance to those farmers who lost their crops due to lack of irrigation water. The supply of irrigation water in this region has never been under a schedule to farmers served by the Conservancy causing many problems of gravity feed for the higher lands within the Atacama Irrigation Scheme.
The major schemes like Mahaica/Mahaicony/Abary, Tapakuma and Black Bush were all designed to irrigate the higher rice lands first.