Sowing for second crop almost complete

MILLERS continue to make payments to rice farmers across the rice producing regions and to date, of the $23.3B worth of paddy produced, over $21B has been paid out.
This is according to Guyana Rice Producers’ Association (RPA) General Secretary, Mr. Dharamkumar Seeraj, who said that in Region 2 (Pomeroon/Supenaam) where there was a protest over payments, over $3B of the $4B owed farmers for paddy has been paid out.
“The monies paid are about 86 per cent of the amount of what was owed, so a small percentage (14 per cent) is still to be paid,” he said.
The RPA Head added that farmers want, and rightly so, to be paid on time, and the government is working closely with both farmers and millers to ensure that this issue is addressed.
“What we are doing is working to ensure that mechanisms are in place for the millers to access the funding they need to make the payments to the farmers, since the paddy they purchase are not exported right away, but done in tranches. The issue of timely payment is the problem and we are working to ensure that we have systems in place and that millers are better organised to avoid this issue,” Seeraj said.
According to him, the industry continues to perform well continuously and is working to ensure that millers and farmers improve their ability to deal with the challenges of growth.
The first rice crop brought in a record-breaking 315,000 tonnes, which is not only the largest single crop, but also surpassed the annual targets made by the industry prior to 2000.
SIMILAR ACREAGE

Addressing the progress of the second rice crop, Seeraj stated that a similar amount of acreage, as the first crop, is expected to come under cultivation.
“We are going into unprecedented ways to get land under cultivation…in the last three years we have moved from 175,000 acres to over 227,000 acres under cultivation and the expansion continues,” Seeraj said, adding that the situation is being monitored.
He noted that sowing is almost complete in Regions 5e (Mahaica/ Berbice) and 6 (East Berbice/ Corentyne) and is complete in the other rice producing Regions – Regions 2, 3 (Essequibo Islands/ West Demerara) and 4 (Demerara/Mahaica),
“Notwithstanding the payment challenge, the second crop is proceeding very well,” the RPA General Secretary said.
Seeraj addressed the issue of weather also and said it is has been good so far for the industry. “It is the rainy season, we planned for it…we may have to do some work in the area of drainage and irrigation, but we are not expecting any major problems,” he said.
The rainfall normally experienced during the May/ June rainy season has been less owing to the onset of El Nino conditions. The Agriculture Ministry in May issued an El Nino alert, after consultation with its Hydro-meteorological Office, and taking into consideration predictions from various Regional and International Forecasting and Weather Agencies. Also, a Special El Nino Working group has since been set up to monitor and plan actions to reduce any adverse impact of a possible El Nino on agriculture production.
However, the RPA Head acknowledged that the rainfall has been below normal. “The rainfall has been below normal, but it has rained enough to fill the conservancies,” he said.
Seeraj made it clear that his organisation, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), continue to work with farmers across the country. Yesterday a meeting was held with farmers in Region Three to address issues related to timely payment and success of the second crop.
For the second crop, some 225,000 acres of rice is expected to be cultivated, with the overall production depending on farmers’ yield of bags per acre.

(By Vanessa Narine)