THE start of harvesting paddy by farmers from Kumu Village in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) has marked a new beginning for agriculture in the region.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the yields have been encouraging, standing at 26 bags per acre.
At the recent National Toshaos’ Conference (NTC) held in Georgetown, Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, committed to assisting the region with a harvester to commence harvesting.

Meanwhile, Minister Mustapha, in a previous report, said Guyana was looking to procure portable mills for hinterland rice farmers.
According to the minister, Brazil is known to have this technology, and the government will consider procuring the mills from the country that borders Region Nine.
“I understand Brazil has those technologies and I’m looking to see if we can source it from Brazil…we can get it for about G$5 million and I think if we have it and we can get it to Guyana, we can give it to villages and they can have their own portable mill to process the paddy,” Mustapha said.

Recently, rice production restarted in Moco Moco, Karasabai, Kumu and several other villages in the South Pakaraima district of the region.
According to the minister, rice is also cultivated in Region Eight, at Monkey Mountain.

To support this and other efforts, the Agriculture Ministry has been providing extension services to the rice farmers in these communities through the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI).

“We have been supporting this effort through the seed paddy. We have a combine in Region Nine too and we have a small mill.
“I have our people working there steadily, working there all the time and that is why if there is any issues at all, we deal with it at the Ministry of Agriculture through the GRDB [Guyana Rice Development Board],” he added.