The rice industry in Guyana recorded its highest export of 320,000 tonnes with a production of 360,000 for 2010, due to the input of farmers and technical and extension services, inclusive of water management by the Agriculture Ministry, despite the disruptions caused by climate change.
This is according to Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud, while addressing media operatives during a year-end-press briefing on Tuesday.
“The rice sector has been one of the more exciting sectors in terms of performance, because at the start of the year we were very fearful about the performance of the rice industry in light of the El Nino condition; but we were able to minimise and ensure that the investments we made in water management gave us value for our money,” he said.
As the demand for the commodity increases, due to the shortfall on the world market, requests have been made for Guyana to support other countries apart from Venezuela.
However, Persaud has requested that exports be reduced to ensure that there are adequate quantities to supply the local market.
The Burma Rice Research Station has also been working tirelessly to employ technologies. Two new varieties of rice were released in 2009 (GRDB 9 and 10), while a flood-tolerant variety (flood-resistant rice), a collaborative effort with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) will come on-stream shortly.
These varieties have already occupied approximately 30 percent of the acreages being sown for the current crop.
“These were done particularly with climate change in mind, to withstand long dry and wet periods. A lot of emphasis was also put in looking at other varieties, so that farmers can benefit,” he added.
The flood resilient rice has been successfully achieved in Asia (India, Bangladesh) and allows rice to survive complete submergence for up to 17 days. The Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) has already released 10 blast-resistant varieties, while focus is also being placed on the development of aromatic rice tolerant to salt and disease resilient.
These measures were taken to increase production and productivity and will continue in 2011, with the aim of stimulating greater food security, while increasing food production.
