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Region Five rice production not severely affected by flooding – GRDB General Manager
The recent devastating high tides that swamped some East Coast Demerara and Berbice villages will not severely affect rice production in Region 5.
This is according to Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) General Manager, Nizam Hassan recently.
Hassan was commenting on the issue as several coastal communities were still recovering from flood waters which resulted from overtopping and the breaching of at least three sea defences.
He said that the GRDB has been initially targeting some 85,000 hectares, which was expected to be cultivated before their second crop. This figure was however hiked to 90,000 hectares to be sown before the second crop, which is now still in effect.
Some 40,914 hectares, or 101,100 acres, sown in Region Five. It is estimated that some 1000 acres of that overall acreage of 222,394 bore the brunt of the floods.
But Hassan said that some farmers were still able to save some of their crops before and after the two spring tides. He added that the first tide, which began in October of this year, affected harvesting in some areas. He noted that many farmers tried to save their cops by harvesting but the high tides arrived before they could complete this task.
GRDB’s General Manager, Nizam Hassan
Flooding last August at First Savannah, Mahaicony Creek
The salt water on the land from floods also had damaged some machinery, including combine harvesters that rusted.
GRDB’s total projected target for the year 2019 is recorded at one million tonnes of paddy, as 522,255 tonnes was the target for the first crop.
Meanwhile records suggest that for 2018, some 627,105 metric tonnes of rice was produced of which 75% was exported, securing US$186M in exports. As of August 2019, Guyana reportedly exported rice commodities to a tune of some US$148M.
In August, rice farmers at First Savannah, Mahaicony Creek, are blaming the authorities at the Mahaica Mahaicony Abary Agricultural Development Authority (MMA/ADA) for causing them to lose over $7M in bearing rice crop that were destroyed by flood waters.
They had claimed that they have been neglected for almost eight years, even as they were “begging and pleading” for improved drainage and irrigation in the area.
They said a dam that was supposed to be completed to prevent floodwaters from getting to their rice crops has been left unfinished for several years now, thus causing rising waters during heavy rainfall to flood their rice fields.
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