— extension officers to work with low-yielding farmers to improve crop

RICE farmers from all across Guyana, on Wednesday, gathered in Cane Grove, Mahaica, as the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) hosted its Farmers’ Exchange Exercise and Field Day after almost two years.
According to an Agriculture Ministry release, farmers travelled from as far as Region Two to share their experiences with other farmers and shed some light on the successes and shortcomings of their production of this crop.
Government has maintained that it intends to double rice production within the next five years and has been working with farmers to improve their production with improved infrastructure and technology over the past seven months.
Farmers from Regions Four, Five, and Six boasted of their successful production levels, some saying that they had achieved up to 65 bags per acre.

Ramgolam Singh popularly known as “Rishu”, a rice farmer from Region Six, credited some of his success to the massive amount of drainage and irrigation works that were done since Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha took over as minister.

“Over the last six months, there has been a mass improvement in drainage and irrigation. If you go in every area in our region, whether Black Bush Polder or 52-74 Crabwood Creek, in the front lands, there are several machines. At present, the farmers and the Government are working hand-in-hand to prepare the dams to take out the paddy, and, fortunately, yesterday, a farmer by the name of Dahdo from Number 57 Village reaped an average of 65 bags per acre with the GRDB 10 variety. We are seeing a lot of improvement under this new Government because of its commitment to producing food to feed the nation and internationally. Already we are seeing that the price for paddy has gone up a little and the millers in Region Six have upped their price from $45,000 per tonne to $50,000 per tonne,” Singh said.
Some farmers from Region Two, however, said that they have yet to achieve these quantities but remain optimistic that, with good crop husbandry, this can be achieved.

SATISFIED

While offering remarks, Minister Mustapha said he was pleased with the reports of the high levels of production in most of the rice-producing regions. The minister also said that Government will continue to work with farmers to improve their cultivation and production levels.
“We at the ministry are working to have consistency in our yield levels across the country. We must not have an average of 50 bags per hectare in one region and then 20 bags in another region. We must refocus our efforts to ensure we employ the kinds of agricultural practices required to achieve higher yields. Government will also continue to give funds for more research in the sector. If we want to achieve these higher yields, we cannot continue to do things in the same way. Some farmers are still not practising good crop husbandry and this is reflecting in their production,” Minister Mustapha said.
Minister Mustapha also informed the farmers that the management of GRDB is being revamped to better serve the needs of the farmers and other stakeholders of the sector.

He also instructed the board to procure portable moisture testing instruments to carry out on-the-spot testing of paddy, after farmers continued to complain of unfavorable moisture readings for their paddy at the mills.
Noting the success and importance of the event, Minister Mustapha also charged the board with executing three additional field day exercises before the end of the current crop.
Ministry of Agriculture Director-General and Chairman of the GRDB, Madanlall Ramraj, also tasked the extension arm of the GRDB to work with low-yielding farmers across the country to improve their crops.
“Every extension officer is now tasked with working with low-yielding farmers across the country. From the starting, meaning from land preparation. Do a comparative analysis of their production before working with them to ensure their production increases at the end of the crop. This report must be submitted to the management of GRDB and will be treated as a substantive item at the Board of Directors level,” Ramraj said.