Dear Editor,
Some fifty acres of young rice have been under water for the past months due to heavy rainfall and a new koker which is under construction at Golden Fleece on the Essequibo Coast.
The rainy weather has taken its toll on these rice farmers who cultivated for the new crop of 2007. Fifty acres or more will be lost because of the lack of drainage due to this new koker which is situated on the foreshore.This would result in the loss of export earnings, some assistance will have to be given to the farmers if they are to go back to their fields.
The young rice plants are particularly susceptible to duckweed when the field is submerged at the early growth stage. During seedling establishment duckweed can smother the young rice seedlings, leaving large areas in the field without rice plants.
These farmers are making a plea to the Minister of Agriculture for help and urgent intervention. Most small rice farmers are vulnerable, many are unsophisticated and unable to represent themselves. The Guyana Rice Producers Association (R.P.A.) must come to their rescue urgently. Many of them have been traumatized in the past by lending institutions when bad crops or unstable weather patterns caused losses that made them unable to service their loans.
The R.P.A. has always been in the vanguard of the rice farmers struggle for a fair deal. It has played a pivotal role in agitating for the rights of the rice farmers who have always contributed to economic, human and social development. The General Secretary Mr Dharamkumar Seeraj should lobby the Government to help these farmers.
The Regional Vice Chairman Mr Vishnu Samaroo is working very hard to arrest the situation by diverting pumps to this area but the heavy rains and the backland waters keep piling up making it impossible to save the young rice.
Yours faithfully,
Mohamed Khan
