GENERAL Secretary of the Guyana Rice Producers Association (GRPA), Dharamkumar Seeraj says the overall critical dry period is now over and rice crops should not be lost at present due to a lack of irrigation water.
During a telephone interview with the Guyana Chronicle yesterday, Seeraj noted that the majority of rice farmers around the country now have an

adequate supply of water for their crops, following an extended dry period.
Meanwhile, the annual production target for rice has been set at 412,000 tonnes for 2013. Last year’s production surpassed the annual target, reaching a record high 422,058 tonnes, the highest to date in Guyana’s history.

In an interview last month with this publication, Agriculture Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy had stated that the government was expending approximately $1 million each day to pump irrigation water into farmlands.
However, he had stressed that this was necessary in order to prevent losses since the weather was extremely dry and conservancy levels around the country were critically low.
Seeraj related that though there were some problems with irrigation water in Region 2(Pomeroon/Supenaam), those have since been resolved and rice crops in that area are now in an advanced stage.
According to him, there was a similar situation in Region 3 (West Demerara/Essequibo Islands) but the conservancy levels have risen and all areas in that region now have an adequate supply of water.
He further advised that Region 6(Demerara/Mahaica) does not have any issue as it relates to irrigation water because all farms in this area are being sufficiently supplied with water from the respective conservancies.
Seeraj stated that farmers in Region 6(Mahaica/Berbice) from the right bank of the Mahaica River to the left bank of the Abary River were experiencing some problems but water was supplemented from sluices using pumps. He noted that the critical period for this area has also come to an end.
In addition, he related that in Region 5 also, farms on the right bank of the Abary River to the left bank of the Berbice River have sufficient water since they are serviced by the Mahaica/Mahaicony/Abary conservancy.
He indicated too that Region 6 (East Berbice/Corentyne) is past the stressful stage. He said farmers had been receiving water through pumps but some pump stations have been shut down because the water supply is now adequate.
The Agriculture Minister had previously declared an emergency as it relates to irrigation water and the ministry had established a multi-sector task force to deal with related issues.
This team was tasked with monitoring the situation on a daily basis and Ramsammy had stated that smaller teams were deployed across the affected areas to provide feedback.
In addition, the minister had reached out to Shadow Ministers of Agriculture from A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and Alliance For Change (AFC), Dr. Rupert Roopnarine and Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan respectively, both of whom had promised their maximum cooperation during the critical period.