Farmers in West Berbice have called on the research centre at Burma to provide a better quality of seed paddy saying that they are paying a high price for the product but are not getting their money’s worth.
The farmers made this call during a consultation with Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud, the Rice Producers Association (RPA) and the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) at the Bush Lot Secondary School on Sunday.
The farmers felt that the research centre is not doing enough for them and said they would have to purchase the seed paddy from other farmers.
In response, General Manager of GRDB, Jagnarine Singh admitted that the research centre is experiencing some “difficulties” but said there has been improvement in the quality of the seeds over the years.
He told the farmers that new facilities have been installed at the centre and changes would be made for the next season when they would notice the better quality.
Singh said the centre would like to have feedback about the quality of paddy and also provided his personal numbers to the farmer to contact him directly with reports as well.
He said the GRDB continues to work with farmers and look at ways and means to increase productivity.
He pointed out too that the farmers who used the six-point farming practice introduced by the GRDB in which the water in the fields is managed properly produced better quality yields than those who did not adhere to the practice.
Farmers had complained about poor drainage and irrigation and following discussions, two excavators were provided by the Mahaica-Mahaicony-Abary (MMA) scheme to assist the farmers.
However, farmers from Number 7, 8 and 9 Villages complained that the excavator only did a portion of the work and was taken to another area, causing a farmer to lose a substantial amount of rice.
General Manager of MMA, Aubrey Charles responded that it was agreed that the machines would provide one day’s work in each area but it ended up spending two and a half days. He said too that he was not aware that a farmer lost that amount of rice but would look into it.
Due to the prolonged dry spell farmers requested the irrigation of water for their crops and the MMA has already agreed when the irrigation would commence for the spring crop.
Arrangements are also being made for cattle farmers in the Abary area to access water, Charles said.
Meanwhile minister Persaud said that such consultations are important for farmers to be included in the decision making process.
It would also focus on weak areas by providing fertilizer at a reduced cost, constructing more drying facilities or other mechanisms to support the cost of production for the next crop.
He said that while farmers have differing needs government is committed with available resources, to ensure fair treatment and urged all rice farmers to collaborate so that they may withstand challenges within the industry.
According to him, “The agriculture sector has a disproportionate level of vulnerability; rice in particular, we are exposed to the external market, weather conditions, diseases and manmade problems.”
