…514,240 tonnes produced thus far in 2013, with 6% of crop still to be harvested

THE rice industry continues to be star performer of the local agriculture sector, once again breaking its own record with more than 500,000 tonnes of rice produced thus far for this year, the highest rice production figure in Guyana to date.

This was announced by Agriculture Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, who, during a recent interview, told the Guyana Chronicle that, up to last Saturday, 514,240 tonnes of rice had been produced, even as six percent of the land under rice cultivation remains to be harvested.
Last year, a record-breaking 422,000 tonnes of rice was produced, which had then represented the largest production figure. However, the 2013 production figure has surpassed that amount by almost 100,000 tonnes, though this did not come as a surprise to Minister Ramsammy and other officials in the rice industry.
The minister had, in the past year, constantly expressed his expectation of meeting the 500,000 tonnes’ production mark; and in an interview with this publication last month, had stated that early indications are that the local rice industry would surpass that mark this year.
The first crop of this year performed exceedingly well, with a production of some 263,000 tonnes, significantly more than its target of 206,000 tonnes. In addition, the annual target of 412,000 tonnes has long been surpassed.
Ramsammy noted that the rice industry is producing extremely well, and would continue to set new records. He added that “each crop seems to be breaking a new record”, and related that, given where the industry started out this year — with many challenges, including an upsurge of paddy bugs, particularly in the first crop, its performance shows that the industry keeps responding to its challenges.
“So whilst paddy bug was expected to be a major problem this year, the actions taken have resulted in the paddy bug impact being far less than we expected; and that shows that, if one acts early, you could really find answers to the problem,” he said.
A high population of paddy bugs had caused some damage to the rice in the first crop, and there was a resurgence of this infestation in the second crop. However, owing to Government’s programmes and interventions of the GRDB and the RPA, the situation was brought under control.
The minister related that the paddy bug situation had the potential of being worse, but a number of actions were taken, such as public awareness, demonstrations, assistance with pesticides, and increased surveillance, among other actions.
In addition, another challenge that has faced the industry this year were the unpredictable weather conditions, with an extended dry period in the first crop and an extended wet period in the second. While August is usually one of the driest months of the year, this August was one of the wettest, with some 20 days of rain; and this was the period when the rice crop had required dry weather.
As rice production continues to grow, the Government of Guyana has committed to securing more foreign markets for its rice. In this regard, Dr Ramsammy recently travelled to Jamaica, where he held talks with members of that country’s private sector regarding the possibility of Jamaica importing greater volumes of Guyana’s rice. He pointed out that some 40,000 tonnes of rice has been exported to Jamaica for this year.
Moreover, the minister had indicated earlier this month that Guyana had exported about US$158M worth of rice for 2013. He related that Guyana has already fulfilled its contractual agreement with Venezuela, its largest rice importer, in terms of paddy for this year, while rice exports under that contract would be completed by December.
The 2013 Guyana-Venezuela rice deal, signed last May, stipulates that Guyana would export 110,000 tonnes of white rice and 81,000 tonnes of paddy to Venezuela during the course of the year. Ramsammy also indicated that negotiations for next year would begin between the two South American countries in the near future.

(By Nadine Sanchara)