Latest update December 23rd, 2024 3:40 AM
Rice exports bags US$10M more in bumper first crop
As of May 7, the rice industry has harvested 86 percent of its 2018 first crop production and it is a bumper crop.
The harvesting is 75,137 hectares of the 87,538 hectares sown. This is a significant increase in production from 310,748 tonnes earlier in the year to 448,926 tonnes.
GRDB’S General Manager, Nizam Hassan
General Manager of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), Nizam Hassan, highlighted the areas that have improved. He said that the first crop was a success and the performance will continue growing from 2017.
“What we have seen in the first crop; generally, there have been improved productivity issues. Pests and disease were managed; farmers were being paid faster than previous crops; prices paid were improved from previous crops to $3000 per bag of paddy.”
With a bumper first crop, GRDB is highly optimistic going into the second crop.
With the increase of this production from January to April 2018, there has also been an increase in exports with sales increasing by over US$10 million.
Hassan compared the current production to that of 2017, noting that the increase is credited to the exploration of new markets.
“For the period January to April 2018, we exported 139,501 tonnes valued at US$57.7 million compared to 120,811 tonnes valued at US$47 million for the corresponding period last year. So, I’m talking about the first four months of 2018 compared with the first four months of 2017, in terms of the volume, that’s about 15 percent more we’ve exported.
“The increases in the exports have primarily come of course from new markets that we’ve been exporting to.”
One such new market is Mexico, which Guyana began exporting to in 2017, ending that year with 113,525 tonnes of paddy shipped.
For this year up until May, 61,350 tonnes have been exported. The aforementioned combined with 2017’s amount saw 174,875 tonnes valued at US$51.4 million being exported so far.
Most regions have harvested over 78 percent of their cultivation so far.
Recently, the Rice Board released its “GRDB 15”, a new paddy variety that is promising higher yields.
Rice millers had been tagging one of the best yields in recent years for the performance of rice.
Guyana would need the good news as the majority of the sectors had underperformed with the exception of gold.
The average yield was about 37 bags per acre, it is being reported.
The first crop has been one of the best in year, authorities are disclosing, with more monies earned than the same period last year.
The updated harvest as of May 7, 2018 is as follows:
Region Paddy Production (M/T) Percentage of hectares harvested
Region 2 76,836.8 96.3%
Region 3 43,422.8 97.8%
Region 4 366,126.5 96.7%
Region 5 3,069,376.5 82.7%
Region 6 1,724,427.0 79.1%
Region 9 14,227.2 100.0%
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