Rice production exceeds first quarter target

May 29, 2015 News

… Expected to break annual record
Rice production has exceeded the first quarter target for 2015 by some 42,000 tonnes, as the country looks set to complete a record breaking first quarter harvest.
This is according to General Manager of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) Jagnarine Singh, who disclosed that the target had been set for 313,000.
According to Singh, the year’s first quarter rice harvest is 94.7% complete, with 355,000 tonnes of rice having already been harvested.
Rice production has been at an all-time high since 2013, when the country’s overall production surpassed 500,000 tonnes (535,212), the first time such a feat had occurred. The year before, 2012, production had peaked at 422,058, thus making the 2013 figure a 27% increase.
Last year saw another record production, 633,000 tonnes, surpassing 2013 figures by almost 100,000 tonnes. These dramatic increases in production have been attributed to higher yields than ever and more land being ploughed.
Meanwhile, head of the Guyana Rice Producers Association (GRPA) Dharamkumar Seeraj expressed optimism that the rice in the system will remain ahead of last year’s first quarter figure, even as he projected loss of some crops in regions five and six, due to the heavy rainfall. However harvest was almost complete in the other regions.
Floods also struck rice lands on the Essequibo Coast only days ago, forcing Minister of Agriculture Noel Holder to dispatch a team headed by National Drainage and Irrigation (NDIA)’s Lionel Wordsworth in order to alleviate the situation.
Over 1000 acres of rice lands between Queenstown and Devonshire Castle were affected by flood waters. Water had apparently accumulated in the backlands and excessive rainfall exacerbated the flood.
The Government was subsequently able to confirm that the previous administration did not dredge or desilt the outfall channels in the area during the dry season, compounding the excessive silt.
In addition there were several sluices that were not fully operational. Of the eight sluices in the area, only two, located at Anna Regina and La Union, were reportedly working satisfactorily.
Seeraj also revealed that a number of millers still had outstanding payments, across all the regions, a situation that led to a series of protests from farmers in Anna Regina, Essequibo Coast and Black Bush Polder earlier in the year.
However, Seeraj was able to confirm that exports to Venezuela, under the Petro Caribe deal, as well as exports to the Caribbean, European and Central American market, were going on apace, in fact exceeding last year’s exportation figures in the same time span. (Jarryl Bryan)

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Rice production exceeds first quarter target

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