Rice producing areas in Region Five (Mahaica/Abary/West Berbice) lost almost of a third of the first (spring) rice crop to heavy rainfall earlier this year.

General Secretary of the Guyana Rice Producers Association (RPA) Dharamkumar Seeraj said that harvesting, still ongoing in East Berbice, will be completed shortly. Seeraj, during the last week of April, had reported that rice yields had increased in other regions but were “below average” in Region Five because of the after effects of heavy rains in January and February.

A full report for the first crop is not yet available but Stabroek News was able to view harvesting figures in a report as at 29 May, which showed that 68% (rounded figure) of the rice sown in Region Five was harvested. However, when it is considered that 99% was harvested in last year’s autumn (second) crop, according to a Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) report, the region’s harvest has decreased by more than one fourth.

Seeraj had said at the end of April that while yields had increased current weather conditions were forcing them “back to normal”. In addition to this, the paddy in many regions was “past its prime” which results in shattering (the grains dropping off the stalk because they have become overly mature). Shattering, Seeraj said, increased the field loss farmers suffer.

Approximately 60,200 hectares (148,757 acres) of rice were cultivated for the present crop. Region Two (Essequibo) cultivated   over 12,000 hectares (29,653 acres); Region Three (Wakenaam/Leguan/Hog Island/West Demerara) 8,200 hectares (20,263 acres); Region Four (Golden Grove/cane Grove) 3,000 hectares (7,413 acres); and 19,000 hectares (46,950 acres) were planted in Region Six (Frontlands/Black Bush Polder).

Region Five, which cultivated just 1,000 hectares less than Region Six, is the only region which has not shown an increase in yield this crop, Seeraj told Stabroek News in April. The RPA, he had said, was at the time analyzing this problem “which is of major concern”.

The Mahaica/Mahaicony/Abary area, according to Seeraj, lost approximately 15,000 hectares (37,066 acres) to rainfall.

Seeraj had pointed out that although the rain resulted in farmers suffering losses it managed to eliminate weeds thereby providing less competition for space on fields. The additional space has contributed somewhat to the increase in yields in the rice cultivating regions.

A Government Information Agency (GINA) release issued on April 22 had stated that “better weather conditions during the current crop will ensure higher yields than the previous crop”; this information was supplied by General Manager of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) Jagnarine Singh.

An average of 68 bags of paddy per hectare (2.47 acres) was being harvested by farmers during the second (autumn) crop last year, Singh had told GINA. The present crop, Singh told GINA, has seen an increase of four bags per hectare.

The GRDB General Manager, “in light of the unseasonal rainfall being experienced”, had urged farmers to harvest their paddy as quickly as possible.

The rice board, GINA said, has been engaging Neighbourhood Democratic Councils and Water Users Associations (WUA) to assist farmers.

WUAs are community-based organizations contracted by the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority to maintain drainage structures and dams. Stabroek News had learnt from Seeraj that the state of dams in Regions Two and Three had been slowing the harvesting process.