–Minister Mustapha assures Windsor Forest farmers

AGRICULTURE Minister Zulfikar Mustapha has assured rice farmers of Windsor Forest, West Coast Demerara (WCD), that every option is being explored to save paddy amidst the inclement weather.

Farmers had met with President Dr. Irfaan Ali last Tuesday and highlighted the need for assistance with harvesting the remainder of their paddy.

The farmers told the Head of State that as a result of the inclement weather over the past few days, their combines have been unable to access their fields, and this has resulted in some of their paddy passing the specified harvesting period.

According to a press release from the Agriculture Ministry, while meeting with the farmers at the Windsor Forest Community Centre Ground, Minister Mustapha said that the government is committed to increasing rice production, and that no effort would be spared to assist them with harvesting the remaining paddy in the region, which is estimated to be some 5,000 acres.

He said that since the visit by President Ali, extension staff from the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) have conducted a survey to determine the average yield harvested so far, and what was left to be harvested. He urged the farmers to wait until the assessment is complete to determine the losses.

“According to this survey, when some farmers attempted to harvest the paddy, they found that the fields were a bit soft, but if the weather holds a little, you will be able to harvest in a few days. We cannot anticipate and predict the losses. Let us wait and see what happens over the coming days.

“Based on the average yield harvested so far for the entire cultivation in the Region, if farmers cannot reach that average, then we will be able to determine the losses.

And I agree with you that you will experience losses, because the paddy has over-run; we will see what assistance can be given. More than likely, this will be in the form of seed paddy, because we cannot give you cash,” Minister Mustapha said.

He affirmed that both the government and the farmers have a vested interest in the sector, and pledged the government’s continued support towards its development.
“We all have one objective, and that is to ensure we have maximum production. When farmers have maximum production, the country benefits. As Minister of Agriculture, I would like to see an increase in rice production.

“I have been engaging our officers from the GRDB, telling them that they are to work with every farmer for the coming crop to ensure every inch of land is cultivated, because we want to ramp up production. We also want farmers’ cost of production to be lowered, and yields to increase. This is why we continue to make more budgetary allocations available within the agriculture sector,” Minister Mustapha said.

He also visited some of the affected fields to get a first-hand look at the affected plots. After examining some of the affected fields, he told the farmers that extension officers from the GRDB will be conducting daily assessments of each field and submitting a report on their findings.

Minister Mustapha was accompanied by Director General of the Agriculture Ministry and Chairman of the GRDB Board of Directors, Madanlall Ramraj; GRDB’s General Manager, Badrie Persaud; GRDB’s Deputy General Manager, Kuldip Ragnauth, GLDA’s CEO (ag) Dr. Dwight Waldron and other regional and ministry officials.