–    target yield of 4.4 million bags of paddy attainable, says Seeraj
FARMERS in the regions affected by the La Nina phenomenon are facing better luck now that the weather has held up and General Secretary of the Guyana Rice Producers Association (RPA), Dharamkumar Seeraj, said he is optimistic that the spring crop will yield the target of 4.4 millions bags of paddy. In an invited comment, he said, “I am optimistic that we will make our target…the supply to our markets will not be affected and so far the prices are favourable, between $4,200 and $3,800.”
According to him, a significant percentage of the current rice crops was under threat, but thankfully there was a break in the weather and improvements in the draining and irrigation capacity.
Seeraj said the acreage sown in the regions was 35,500 in Region Two (Pomeroon/ Supenaam); 14,000 in Region Three (Essequibo Islands/ West Demerara); 6,000 in Region Four (Demerara/ Mahaica; over 70,000 in Region Five (Mahaica/ Berbice); and some 47,000 in Region Six East Berbice/ Corentyne).

Regional Status
He noted that conditions in Region Two have improved considerably with better weather, better dams to have paddy transported from the fields and improved drainage.
“The farmers here made use of the weather and were harvesting until 2:00hrs this morning (Thursday),” Seeraj said
However, the RPA Representative said the conditions in Region Three are not as favourable.
According to him, the East Bank of Essequibo area still has high levels of water and the dams are in no condition to facilitate transport of paddy out of the fields.
In Leguan, pumps have been deployed to drain water from approximately 2,029 acres of rice.
“In Region Three, we still have about 4,000 acres of rice under water,” he said.
Seeraj added that Regions Four and Five have some level of harvesting ongoing, but in these areas the pressing concern is the condition of the access dams.
Escaping any significant damages were the crops in Region Six, where the impact of the adverse weather conditions was at a minimum.
“The crops in Region Six are doing well and some harvesting has commenced,” Seeraj said.
He acknowledged that farmers of the last few rice crops have had to face significant challenges with the changing and erratic weather patterns, a result of climate change.
However, he noted that even with those challenges last year, the sector performed at record levels.
Last year the rice sector made a record production of 360,996 tonnes and this year the sector is projected to increase its production even further, to 379,628 tonnes, a 4.9 percent increase in value added.
La Nina is simply above average rainfall in a particular area for a particular period of time and is generally associated with dryer areas.