Autumn rice crop to surpass target

– average yield pegged at 28 bags of paddy per acre

By Michael Itwaru

President of the Rice Producers Association Leekha Rambrich is optimistic that by the end of the current autumn crop more than 400,000 bags of paddy would have been reaped, surpassing the national target since farmers are expecting very high yield per acre.

Preparations for the crop had commenced in early June, with farmers sowing paddy as late as August. This extended crop was due to harsh weather at the start of the year. Rambrich recalled that in May/June there was hardly any rain and harvesting occurred in April after there was a good measure of rain in March. The muddy conditions posed major difficulties for reaping during the spring crop, resulting in most of the dams being damaged. Because of the poor conditions, farmers had to spend more time preparing the muddy fields for the following crop; this resulted in an extension of the current autumn crop.

This extension has overlapped and delayed the preparation for the first spring crop of the new year. Ideally preparation for the spring crop should have commenced by month end but now the same unbalanced cycle is set to prevail again in the new year and this is a major concern for the industry.

“This is the problem we are facing… the other crop supposed to start on the 1st of November… irrigation was supposed to start… now we find about 20 per cent of the crop would still be in the field waiting to be harvested… this would carry an impact because the farmers who are preparing for irrigation would be held back by farmers who are reaping.” Rambrich – who has always been an advocate for structured rice seasons, speaking specifically about the situation in Region Six where some 48,860 acres have been cultivated – appealed to the regional administration to assist in restoring the balance of the rice season by putting systems in place to allow farmers in East Corentyne to have access to irrigation water by November 1, so as to allow for on-time reaping for the 2012 spring crop.

Rambrich confessed that the efforts to put the two rice crops on schedule are even more difficult as famers are confronted with the effects of climate change.

The issue of bringing structure to the rice crop is very key to farmers maintaining and supplying the demands of the Venezuelan, European and Caricom markets in an efficient manner.

Additionally, farmers have benefited from another arrangement between Guyana and Venezuela governments for the current crop. Some 50,000 tonnes of paddy, along with 20,000 tonnes of white rice, are to be exported to Venezuela.

The structure of the rice season in Essequibo was lauded by Rambrich who stated that less than 10 per cent of the paddy is yet to be reaped and farmers are set to commence on- time preparations for the 2012 spring crop.

“Essequibo is about 90 per cent harvested already. We [Berbice] are only about 25 per cent harvested… we are lagging behind and this is a setback in the sector… we must be like Essequibo if we are to sustain a good industry… the good thing about Essequibo is that they have conservancies and the farmers when they need water they ask and they get it.

Region Five (West Coast Berbice) has cultivated some 70,000 acres, Essequibo 32,000 acres, East Berbice 48,860 and Region Four just under 30,000 acres of paddy for the current crop. This marks an increase from the past crop, while there has been an upsurge of rice cultivation in Region Six recently.

“This shows that farmers have confidence in the administration and they continue to expand and invest… what we see happening in the industry now is that every inch of land is being taken up by farmers and we seeing new areas being opened up like in the back of No 52-74 villages; some of the lands in Moleson Creek area going under rice, East and West Canje area, East Bank Berbice,” Rambrich said.

There is further optimism that if the current dry spell persists, farmers in Region Six would take the opportunity to prepare more lands for the spring crop in 2012.