AT THE Rice Research Station at Burma, there is a man and a rice plant who both have at least one thing in common: They started their careers in rice development forty years ago, and today, after many other staffers and plants have come and gone, they are both still there.
Last man standing from the varietal development era of the early seventies is Fazal Khan;  last plant standing is Rustic. While talking with Khan last week, I got the feeling that (don’t know if its my imagination) there seemed to be some sort  of  connection between Man and plant.
For starters, they are, at the very least, both a bit short in stature.
Khan, a Senior Research Technician responsible for rice seed production at Burma, was  last week honoured by the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) for his long and dedicated service  to breeding and growing improved varieties of rice.
It was his retirement day.
He will continue to work on contract.
Khan started work in the industry in 1970 as a ‘Bird Boy’ and rose to the rank of Senior Technician after a lifelong and ongoing love affair with rice plants, particularly the Rustic variety.
Khan said in favour of his rustic pal: “We developed BG 79, B110, Bluebell, Starbonnet, Variety N,  Variety T, Variety S , Champion , 6039 and  many more. All of these varieties have come and gone; Rustic has stood the test of time; still going strong.”
Don’t know if it was my imagination, but when he spoke those words, it occurred to me that Khan  could just as well be talking about himself.
He feels honoured to be a part of such a great task as the growing of improved varieties of rice plants. “It is not only to make farmers more prosperous, but to strengthen food security of Guyanese, and help to feed our neighbours at the regional and continental level,” he said, adding:
“With better varieties produced by this Station, we have seen yields grow from twenty bags per acre to now around fifty bags per acre. The world’s population is growing; more people have to be fed; the pressure is on for plants which can give even more yields per acre, especially in the context of climate change. It is a very challenging, dynamic and worthwhile field, and I love being in the middle of it all.”
In 1970, Khan wanted to become a teacher. However, his father, Azeez, was a staffer at the then Central Agricultural Station at Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara and he agreed when dad suggested he come on board.
His first job was to scare birds away from experimental plots, hence the job title, ‘Bird Boy’. The main adversaries were blackbirds and  red-breasted robins.
“They gave me a big piece of zinc and a stick; I had to keep a sharp lookout for those  birds. Immediately on seeing them approach, I had to jump up, start banging on the zinc, and make as loud a racket as I could to scare them away. Those blackbirds were not easily impressed; they were a real pain-in-the-neck.”
Due to his diligence, and probably a little help from dad, he was pulled into the mainstream of the Station as a Hybridization Assistant. He still feels proud to recall some of the names of the great men in whose company he found himself; men like Surujpaul Singh; Ramlakhan;  an Indian Scientist by the name of Dr. Pawar; Vivian Chin; and Leroy Small. These men were involved in the development of the still standing Rustic,  between 1969 and 1972.
Rustic, his ‘squaddie’, was released in 1977.
In its early days, it was hailed and (still is) as one of the best performing rice plants ever bred by local breeders.
“High yields, good grain quality, low susceptibility to lodging, good milling recovery rates, it was a champion, still is, though there are other new kids in town,” Khan said.
The only weakness in Rustic, its Achilles heel, he said, is its vulnerability to the disease, blast. Not every season, though; mainly the autumn crop, and even then, the disease can be controlled with certain water management and crop husbandry practices.
On plant breeding, he explained: “Breeding of rice plants is a highly technical  art and science. We change and improve the hereditary traits of the plants to achieve high yields; multiple resistances to major diseases, insects, and other environmental stresses; and better grain and nutritional quality, to meet human needs.”
Then there are things like emasculating the male aspect of a plant at a certain time of the day; doing things with the female aspects of the plant at another specific time of the day, and so on… in short, technical (not necessarily mysterious) things which would take a long time to explain.
The development of a variety is not an overnight affair. Varieties  invariably have to be bred and developed for periods between ten to sixteen seasons (or five to eight years, at two seasons per year) before they can be released for widespread use.
Khan is proud to have been involved in the development of twenty different varieties produced at the Guyana Rice Board (GRB), and then the Burma Rice Research Station  under the GRDB over the years. “I feel very good about that,” he said.
A main strategy is the improvement of already existing varieties that lack traits desired by farmers.
Khan was born at Mon Repos in 1955. His parents were Azeez and Irina Khan, his father being a Muslim and his mother a Hindu.
He is a Roman Catholic, and his wife, Savitri, is Hindu.
He and Savitri got  married on December 13, 1981 and  together they’ve raised  three children, namely Dianne, Moshin and Shazana, all now adults.
A typical working day for him is:
0430: Get up; do house work and yard work at Mahaicony, where he lives; feed poultry and stocks etc!
0600- 0700:  Prepare for work; reach work at BRRS; check his experimental plants (his babies); make sure that they have enough water, and are not being harassed by insects, disease or weeds.
0800- 1630:  More field work on the experimental  plots, such as directing, cleaning around them, roguing, fertilizer, disease control… In short, making sure that the new varieties get all the care they need to reach maturity in robust health.
1700: Ketch house.
“They are like babies; these plants and the seeds they will produce  are  very important. The world population is growing… more mouths to feed. We want to look at yields of  60  to 70 bags per acre; we want drought-resistant varieties; salt-resistant varieties; flood-resistant varieties etc!  And this is where it starts…varieties  as  tough as Rustic, but even more productive,” he said.
In post-retirement, Khan is looking forward to continuing growing with his longstanding ‘squaddie’, Rustic,  plus  many other improved varieties in his world  at the GRDB BRRS for many, many years to come.