– 514,000 tonnes recorded to date with 7% of cultivated land yet to be harvested
Guyana’s rice farmers have produced a record output, surpassing the 500,000 tonnes that were targeted for the entire 2013, and based on the current outlook, last year’s production record may be exceeded by 100,000 tonnes, Agriculture Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy disclosed on Tuesday.
“On Monday, the 21st October, for the first time in our history, we reached a goal which many persons in this country said would be impossible, and those who believe it was possible, thought that it would not happen till 2020. On the 21st October, 2013, Guyana surpassed 500,000 tonnes of rice in our production,” the minister announced.
He added: “At the present time, we are approaching 522,000 tonnes. I used that number because last year’s production was 422,000 tonnes…for us to break that record, with more than 100,000 tonnes is an astounding story, one that all of Guyana should be very proud of.”
At present, the current rice production is 514,000 tonnes, but there is about six to seven percent of the cultivated land yet to be harvested.
Expectations are now high that the country can reach the 600,000 tonne mark, the agriculture minister said.
“Indeed, I would say to everyone that should we be able to find the markets, not the market that would take our rice, because we have enough people who want our rice, but the markets that would pay us the price we want for our rice, then we can reach 600,000 tonnes within the next year or maximum two years,” the minister declared.
Meanwhile, the minister noted that this massive achievement by the farmers came not as a result of increased acreage, but as a result of higher yields, revealing that “we consistently now surpass five tonnes per hectare,” and are aiming to achieve six tonnes per hectare.
The Agriculture Ministry is working towards that, “because if we can do that, that is another 100,000 tonnes without adding more land, and that would mean that our cost of production would go right down and allow us to compete with other countries on the world market,” the minister said.
Guyana had two successive years (2011 and 2012) of production of more than 400,000 tonnes of rice. The 412,000 tonnes set for 2012 was surpassed by 10,000 tonnes. A total of 334,000 tonnes were exported, while in 2011, the production was 402,000 tonnes.
New rice varieties and management strategies such as the six-point practice have been credited for higher yields of rice, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported.
