MINISTER of Agriculture, Noel Holder has said that the rice yield for the 2018 crop is impressive and statistics provided to him by the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) has shown improvements in the yield per acreage, especially with the GRDB 15 variety.
Minister Holder was at the time speaking to a large gathering at Mainstay/Whyaka, Region Two on World Food Day, October 16. He told the audience that with the introduction of the new GRDB 15, rice farmers were able to harvest better yields with less damage to their crop.

“Regarding the performance of the GRDB 15 for this second crop 2018 nationally, it has been reported that there is less damage at the mills as compared with other varieties. Zero incidence of black tip; zero to only one per cent lodging; moderate incidence of brown spots; excellent germination; it also accommodates delayed harvesting” Minister Holder said.

Overall, he said that farmers are satisfied since they were able to reap more as compared to previous years. The national yield he noted is about 39 bags per acre with Region Two sowing 1190 acres of GRDB 15 with an expected average yield of 41.5 bags per acre.
He mentioned that GRDB is focusing on the acquisition of new genotypes; promotion of laser land-levelling technology to improve productivity; new herbicides; insecticides and fungicides for pest and weed control; introduction of new management techniques for the management of red rice and the composition of rice/wheat blended flour for value-added production.

“Agriculture will always play a major role in our economy, it is what makes us unique within CARICOM, nevertheless, we must work as a nation to reclaim the name of the Bread Basket of the Caribbean, we have started and will persist in increasing our agricultural production and exports, starting with rice,” Minister Holder said. He noted that Region Two produces 17 per cent of the nation’s rice and has about 2131 rice farmers.