CULTIVATION of the autumn rice crop has started on the Essequibo Coast and at Lima some seventeen acres have been sown already, according to the Guyana Rice Development Board [GRDB] at Anna Regina.

Reports also said that the Regional Administration Drainage and Irrigation Department has started to release water from the main canal to irrigation trenches so fields can be irrigated to facilitate sowing.

Irrigation is currently being done at Lima, Anna Regina and Bush Lot villages in Anna Regina.

Some farmers in Airy Hall village and state farm areas are still harvesting paddy from their fields, while most farmers in the south, central and north areas have already ploughed and chipped their fields and are awaiting the supply of irrigation water. Reports from the GRDB said some 2,000 acres are still to be harvested.

Meanwhile, some farmers who have recently harvested paddy from their fields in the north said they cannot plough their fields quickly because they are too soft. The farmers said they need the hot weather to dry their fields before ploughing and are praying that the weather will not change to heavy rainfall soon.

Some 37,500 acres are targeted for cultivation for the autumn crop.

(By Rajendra Prabhulall)