THE critical dry period seems to have subsided and  Agriculture Minister,  Dr. Leslie Ramsammy has noted that the local rice industry will only suffer minimal losses.

During a recent interview with the Guyana Chronicle at his Regent Road, Georgetown office, the minister acknowledged that the rice industry indeed had a horrendous time in January due to excessive dry weather and a lack of irrigation water at a time when it was most needed.
However, he said that the rice farmers and the professionals attached to the Ministry of Agriculture, particularly the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) and the Mahaica Mahaicony Abary – Agricultural Development Authority (MMA-ADA) must be commended for managing to keep losses at a minimum.
“This wasn’t something that just the technical people did; this was the farmers working sometimes on their own and sometimes with the technical people. It was a remarkable job that they did… So rice survived a critical challenge with little losses,” he remarked.
Dr. Ramsammy pointed out that there was a similar situation in the late 1970s when there was no rainfall for some 7-8 weeks which eventually led to the total loss of rice production in Guyana. He stressed that in the face of the crisis this time around, there will only be minimal loss. However, he observed that while the crops were not lost, it is likely that they will produce a lower yield.
Reaping soon
The minister said that the rice crops have now matured into the flowering stage and will be ready to be reaped soon. He related that they are at a stage when they do not need much water but nevertheless, they are getting some rain.
However, according to the minister, the timing of the rain is bad because although it would not affect the rice itself now, it will affect the accessibility of the relevant machinery to the fields. He said that the dams should ideally be dry in order for the machinery to be able to enter the fields, but excessive rainfall tends to cause some destruction of these dams.
Meanwhile, he highlighted that the production target for this first crop is 206,000 tonnes, adding that he is optimistic that this target will once again be surpassed.
Dr. Ramsammy further related that at present there are approximately 200,000 acres of land under rice cultivation.
“The fact that almost 200,000 acres of rice are now getting ready to be reaped is testimony to the success of the farmers and the technical people in overcoming that huge stress that we had in January. We all in Guyana need to take our hats off and salute the farmers and the technical people who work with them,” he asserted.