Farmers get international help on paddy bug issues

Aug 11, 2019 News

For the past few months farmers have been complaining to Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) about the large quantity of paddy bugs that have been invading their rice crops.
In order to assist the affected farmers, Guyana is now receiving help from its international partner, the Latin American Fund for Irrigated rice (FLAR) in its fight against the dreaded paddy bugs which continues to pose as a growing threat to the viability of the local industry.
This help has come in the presence of the Research Scientist, Dr. Ed Perva, and Specialist Agronomist, Mr. Santiago Cardona, both FLAR front men who were in Guyana and visited all rice growing areas and interacted with farmers with the aimed of diagnosing the contributing factors to the problem and plot the way forward in resolving it.
Based on their initial findings the FLAR team has submitted that a biological imbalance by an over dependence of insecticides has created the conditions in which the paddy bugs are now thriving to the determents of the rice crops.
According to FLAR, Agronomist Mr. Santingo Jaramillo Cardona, he stated that an integrated pest management approach is the only way forward and this has to start with sea treatment.
“The only way that farmers at this moment are fighting paddy bugs is with a chemical strategy and it’s really clear that we need to focus on the integrated pest management practice because if not done the paddy bugs will completely invade rice farms.”
He also stated that farmers need to start focusing on planting dates, sea treatment, biological control and testing different molecules to avoid using an excessive application of insecticides that can cause a lack of imbalance in the ecosystem.
“We have to take care of our natural insects that live in our field that can guarantee a balance in the ecosystem.”
He also explained that planting date is very important because growers that are planting late are most susceptible to this kind of pest attack.
General Manager of the GRDB, Mr. Nizam Hassan, has pledged the board commitment to work along with the team for the next few crops with the implementation of their recommendations saying that restoring biological balance can ultimately control the paddy bugs.
“From this visit we will have a revised and reformed agronomical practice and forum for our farmers, this will be rolled out almost immediately and will be follow through over the other crop seasons as we move to address the incidences of paddy bugs but also not only paddy bugs, but any other insect pest that will be affecting rice crops and also as we move to further enhance and develop the productivity of rice that is produce in Guyana.
“Most of the rice cultivation will be heading into the flowering stage which is when it is most vulnerable to damage from paddy bugs and while the GRDB has launched a massive field exercise for where paddy bugs are found, farmers are being ask to constantly monitor their cultivation and only spray when the bugs exceed 25 bugs in fifty sweeps.
Picture of a rice crop saved in Sunday as rice crop

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