By Telesha Ramnarine

RICE farmers of Region Three (Essequibo Islands/West Demerara), especially those on the islands of Leguan and Wakenaam, are making full use of the rainy weather to get back on their feet for the next crop. However, Regional Chairman Julius Faerber said they are still awaiting word from the Ministry of Agriculture as to whether the Government will assist the farmers financially, following massive losses recently.
Some of the farmers are trying to resume work with their own finances, Faerber observed, but many of the poorer ones are hoping that the Government will assist them in some way.
According to him in an invited comment to the Guyana Chronicle, the region wrote the Agriculture Ministry following a meeting with regional officials last month.
Faerber had told this publication that many of the rice farmers are in a dilemma to repay bank loans following their extensive losses.
The El Nino phenomenon has, for months, taken a toll on the farmers, most of whom depend solely on rice for their livelihoods.
“We are only hoping that the Ministry of Agriculture, ultimately the Government, would assist farmers so they can get back on their feet for the next crop,” Faerber had said.
“There has been extensive loss in the region, particularly in Leguan and Wakenaam. It is very disheartening to know of the situation in those two islands. This situation has been ongoing for a couple of months now,” he stated.
The Chairman noted that a request has been made of Government for a high-level team to visit the affected areas to see the amount of losses that have been suffered.
CAN ASSIST
“The Government can assist the farmers with soft loans and other financial compensation. In excess of 300 acres of rice were planted in Wakenaam, while about 150 acres were planted in Leguan. Almost all of that has been damaged,” Faerber disclosed.
President David Granger had met with key ministers and stakeholders to facilitate increased ministerial collaboration for the scaling-up of plans to prepare for future cycles of dry weather.
At that meeting, President Granger had instructed that a ministerial task force be set up under the leadership of the Ministry of Agriculture, to be responsible for the creation of an action plan that focuses on immediate relief for affected communities.
Within the ministries, all of the key agencies with responsibility for various aspects of tackling the El Niño impact were to participate in the work of the task force.
LITTLE LOSSES
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Agriculture in a statement on Thursday said despite extreme dry weather experienced over the past few months, Guyana’s rice industry did not suffer tremendous losses as was expected.
The National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) and the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI),have worked assiduously in conjunction with farmers and other agricultural agencies such as the Mahaica-Mahaicony-Abary Agriculture Development Authority (MMA/ADA) to bring relief to both rice and cash-crop farmers.
The ministry said even with extremely harsh conditions, Guyana recorded very low losses in rice.
Based on figures collected by the GRDB, 76,717 hectares of rice was planted, and of this amount, farmers recorded only a 4.3 per cent loss.
“Cash crops were also affected, but export data received showed a positive during the period. NDIA continued to work around the clock to ensure farmers were getting adequate water supplies for their crops. They were able to supply GuySuCo with seven pumps which were strategically placed at Kamuni, Blairmont, Sandaka, Brotherson and Albion, with the two other pumps being placed within the Enmore Estate. The NDIA also provided four 120-cusec pumps for irrigation at Dawa, Region Two and installed and operated two pumps at Maduni to pump water into the East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC).”
The NDIA has also installed and operated a pump to supply the Guyana Water Inc (GWI) with sufficient water via the EDWC.