Better prices, higher yields in rice first crop

Apr 11, 2018 News

With reports of higher yields from farmers’ paddy cultivation, over 530,000 tonnes of paddy is projected to be produced during the first crop.
This is up nine percent from the 488,833 tonnes that was projected for the first crop.

General Manager of the Guyana Rice Development Board, Nizam Hassan.

With 51,280 hectares of the 87,539 hectares sown, already harvested, General Manager of the Guyana Rice Development Board, Nizam Hassan, further explained the increase, improved prices, and improved production.
“Thus far, we’ve seen an excellent performance in the first rice crop of 2018. To date, we have harvested 59 percent across the country and we have seen an increase in yields. Yield increases have moved from two bags per acre to as much as nine bags per acre, this has been really good for the farmers since they also have been receiving higher prices for their production.
“So, overall, we have seen higher yields, better prices and also better paddy coming out of the fields, in terms of production,” Hassan related.
The General Manager also noted that there is much more to come since the projected yield for the first crop of 2018 was 5.6 metric tonnes per hectare. However, with the identified performance and average yield so far being 6.1 tonnes per hectare and one area reporting as much as 7.1 tonnes per hectare, the crop will close with record-breaking yields. As of April 8, last, 310,748 tonnes of paddy equivalent to 201,986 tonnes of rice has been harvested.
The General Manager further relayed how the above-mentioned production bodes well for the industry,
“This fares very well for the sector and very well for the industry because we’ve been getting increases in terms of inquiries and increased opportunities to market our products, and all of the increased production we have seen has been committed to markets which is a good thing for our producers and the business persons involved in the sale. All of the production has been committed to the market so we’re able to fulfill our markets.”
The harvest thus far is shown below:
Regions       Hectares Harvested         Percentage of hectares thus far
Region 2          9,792 hectares                             73% of its cultivation
Region 3          6,153 hectares                             76% of its cultivation
Region 4       2,773 hectares                     80% of its cultivation
Region 5       19,713 hectares                   50% of its cultivation
Region 6         12,849 hectares                      56% of its cultivation

Over the years, the industry has been resilient, seeing significant increases in its first crops. Since the first crop of 2018 is yet to be completed, the over 530,000 tonnes of paddy projected to be produced is set to outstrip paddy production in 2017, which was recorded at 518,667 metric tonnes.
Rice is among the top three foreign currency earners, along with gold and sugar.