…Over 500,000 tons harvested
…GRDB says sector overcoming COVID-19 challenges

THE Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) has reported an excellent first-crop harvest thus far, yielding 534,000 tonnes of paddy from roughly 98% of the crop harvested, the Ministry of Agriculture said in a release.

This is despite some farmers having difficulties harvesting, due to rain, and some harvesting with a high percentage of green paddy. The ministry said this represents a continued increase in productivity for rice farmers who have been paying more attention to agronomical practices, thanks to the work of the extension arm of the GRDB. Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) produced 74,000 tonnes of paddy; Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) 342,000 tonnes; Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) 26,000; Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) 236,000 tonnes; and Region Six (East Berbice- Corentyne) 6 156,000 tonnes.

The national average for the first crop is 5.9 tonnes per hectare, or 38 bags per acre. For individual regions, Region Four shines with an average of 7 tonnes per hectare. Coming in second to that is Region Six with 6.2 tonnes per hectare, followed by Region Five with 5.9. This represents 26,000 tonnes, 156,000 tonnes, and 236,000 tonnes of paddy produced respectively. Regions Five and Six continued to be the largest rice producers, with a combined total of 392,000 tonnes of paddy harvested in the first crop.

This continued growth further indicates that with the current production, farmers are getting greater yield per acreage. This robust performance is owed to farmers partaking in and adhering to advice given by the extension arm of the GRDB, which was able to carry out roughly 80% of its work-plan, despite the challenges faced due to COVID-19. GRDB General Manager Nizam Hassan has indicated that more than 250 one-on-one agronomical training sessions would have been done in May alone, in preparation for the second crop.

SEED TREATMENT
One thing that the GRDB has been stressing is the importance of seed treatment, and farmers have been listening. “We want to congratulate those farmers that are adhering to these trainings, recommendations, and best practices, and we urge those who have not yet done so to do so,” the GM said. The GRDB continues to stress that seed treatment goes hand-in- hand with the use of quality seed to ensure greater yields.

The Guyana Chronicle reported on Friday that local rice industry has remained resilient against the damning effects of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), and was able to rake in US$99M through exports for the first half of the year (also known as first- crop). “We’ve done 242,812 tonnes of export valued at US$99,000,000, compared to 215,330 tonnes valued at US$87,000,000 for the corresponding period in 2019,” Hassan said in a press statement on Thursday. The export earnings from that first-crop reflects a 13 per cent increase when compared to the corresponding period last year.

Hassan said there has been an increase in the export of packaged rice, signaling a greater sale of value-added products. This means that Guyana is earning more revenue for its rice, and indicates a greater demand for our retail ready-packaged rice. “With regards to Packaged Parboiled Rice, we exported 3,705 tonnes in 2019, compared to 5,535 tonnes in 2020, and with regards to Packaged White Rice, which has really shown an astronomical jump, it has moved from 6,316 tonnes in 2019 to 47,484 tonnes in 2020,” Hassan said, adding:

‘STEADY UPWARD TRAJECTORY’

“Rice production has been on a steady upward trajectory over the last few years.”

According to a report from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), “The improvement of extension services of the GRDB, and the expansion of Public Agricultural Investments supported crop yields.” It is expected that annual production will increase for the fourth consecutive year, and reach 1.1 million tonnes, roughly 15 per cent higher than the five-year average.

The Guyana Chronicle reported in January that GRDB has recorded the second highest local rice production ever, with over one million tonnes of paddy being produced in 2019. According to a press statement from the Ministry of Agriculture, some 1,049,874 metric tonnes of paddy was produced in 2019, which was 8,254 tonnes short of the record 2015 production of 1,058,128 tonnes. “2019 stands as the second highest rice-producing year to date,” said the ministry, adding that Guyana managed to produce a record amount of rice, despite the plethora of challenges the industry faced throughout the year.

Among the challenges that the rice industry faced were “extremely unfavourable” weather conditions, and some level of pest infestation. “These challenges were taken head-on by the GRDB, which spared no effort in ensuring that the extension and support services meted out to their rice farmers were superior,” said the agriculture ministry. Not only was production in 2019 close to surpassing the 2015 national record, but production has increased 28 per cent since 2016. This is possible not only by the efforts extended by the GRDB, but also by the “hard work” of farmers.

Nationally, some 16,526,024 bags of paddy or 682,418 metric tonnes of rice was produced. 178,628 hectares were sown, thereby equating to 93 bags of rice per hectare or 38 bags of rice per acre.