Rice had its best year in Berbice, says Armogan

Feb 08, 2015 News

…over 4M bags of paddy in 2014

“The best performance ever in the history of the rice industry in Berbice!” – Armogan

Rice has had its best year ever both in Berbice and on the national scene, according to Region Six Chairman, Mr. David Armogan.
Armogan stated that the rice industry has grown immensely from just over 50,000 acres under cultivation in Berbice three years ago to over 62,732 acres today. The industry, which has faced numerous challenges in the past, he said, is “picking up”.
The Chairman said, too, that persons are even converting their homesteads in Black Bush Polder into rice production, and this is causing the Region Six Administration a lot of problems, since the use of fertilizers and other chemicals in these residential areas, can be harmful to people residing there.
Armogan also spoke about problems being experienced with the Kokerite Savannah in Black Bush Polder, a designated cattle- rearing area, but which has now been transformed into rice farming by farmers there.
Cattle has to move further in. “So every acre of land available, people are just preparing it for rice cultivation— and that is because rice has to be payable.”
During the first crop last year, 62,337 acres of rice were under cultivation, yielding 32.3 bags of paddy per acre. During the second crop, he said there were 62,732 acres under cultivation, with a yield of 36.5 bags of paddy per acre, producing 2,289,718 bags of paddy.
Armogan described this as a “phenomenal performance…the best performance ever in the history of the rice industry in Berbice!”
He said that 2015 will be much, much better for rice. “We are heading in for some very exciting times in the rice industry, once the price holds— the price is the major thing!”
Newer markets must be created, he said, and the government has been moving to do such. “Once these markets are created and the prices are good, it means that our people can continue to produce.”
The Ministry of Agriculture in a release last December stated that Guyana’s market for rice has expanded to several countries in Central America. Guyana is returning to pre-2010 export of rice to Haiti. Brazil and Columbia are also growing destinations for the industry’s rice.
Government also said that Guyana is continuing to engage several African countries which have expressed interest in rice. “Most of these countries are in West Africa and the 2014 Ebola crisis in West Africa delayed progress on realizing these new markets,” the Ministry stated.
Guyana’s rice industry is also poised for expansion into value-added products. While bulk rice continues to be the main export from the industry, 2014 evidenced the largest amount of packaged rice sold. Packaged rice export amounted to about 50,000 tons in 2014.
In collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism and Commerce and IAST, rapid advances have been made in acquiring a rice cereal factory and we expect this to produce commercial quantity of rice cereal in 2015.”
This year, Guyana is expecting its first major bio-energy plant which is replacing about 70 per cent of fossil fuel utilization in the operation of a rice factory in Essequibo.
Armogan said that the Administration continues to provide the facilities for farmers to cultivate rice too. “Rice cannot grow without irrigation and drainage systems,” he stated.
Over the years, these systems have been improved. There are currently five pumps in operation in Black Bush Polder, Corentyne. The Region Six Administration spends over $4.5M in fuel per week to supply irrigation water to farmers. “That’s a lot of money!”
Although there has been a drop in prices for rice, Armogan said that it has stabilized to a level where farmers are still comfortable.