– farmers urged to adjust quickly to improved practices
Dr Edward Pulver, an internationally recognized agronomist, says Guyana’s rice yield is low and roughly the same as it was a decade ago.
Pulver’s statement was made even as the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) reports increased yields this crop. It is important, the agronomist said, that Guyanese farmers learn the importance of producing more at little additional cost since they are now competing in an international free market.
The agronomist, who is attached to the Latin American Fund for Irrigated Rice (FLAR) and based in Colombia, told Stabroek News recently that he and colleagues have been working in collaboration with the GRDB during the last six rice crops. FLAR with the support of the GRDB, Pulver said, has introduced and promoted improved production practices that greatly increase yields without significant increase in production costs.
“I have stated on many occasions that low yields in rice is the primary deterrent to more competitive production,” Pulver stressed adding, “farmers must be aware that they are in a global and competitive market.”
Although farmers have been adopting the improved production practices introduced to them, Pulver said, means of accelerating the adoption of these improvements must be developed. And better rice varieties with greater yield potential must be introduced if yields are to be increased in Guyana’s rice industry. New varieties of rice will soon be available from GRDB/FLAR research efforts, he said.
Guyanese farmers, according to Pulver, “are accustomed to preferred markets in Europe which allowed them to have high prices, much greater than the free market price.” However, Pulver noted that the days of preferred markets and high prices are over and farmers must compete in the free market with its prices.
“If the farmers do not understand the situation and always look for higher prices as the solution,” the agronomist said, “then the Guyana rice market will experience grave problems.
In contrast, if farmers recognize that they have to improve and the technology is available, then the outlook for rice in Guyana is very positive.”
When questioned on Pulver’s statement about low yields GRDB General Manager Jagnarine Singh insisted that this was not the case. Guyana, Singh said, using the current crop as an example, is seeing an increase in yields.
He said that Pulver and another FLAR specialist came to Guyana to do an assessment of the economy and planting programme. Singh said the specialists discovered that there was some “disjointedness between the research and the extension” branches of the GRDB.
The General Manager also highlighted that two new strains of rice were released earlier this year. The new lines, he said, are called GRDB 8 and 9 and have shown increases in yield. However, he admitted the increase in yield could not be described as significant.
Achieving
high yields
Pulver, in support of his arguments that Guyana’s yields have been low, forwarded a copy of a report presented at the International Rice Conference hosted by Guyana last year.
The report was compiled by Pulver and Director of GRDB’s Extension Department Kuldip Ragnauth.
The 2007/2008 report dealt with how Guyana can increase its yield and included management practices which can be adopted and the possible transfer of technology. It also listed several reasons for the low yields in the industry.
“The recuperation of the rice sector in Guyana in the 1990s,” the report said, “was fundamentally based on a rapid expansion of area planted. The annual growth of production during the 1990s was nearly 13%, with the increase of area planted accounting for nearly 75% of the gain in production. In contrast, yield improvement has been very slow and accounted for only 25% of the gain in production during the last decade. Currently rice yields average less than 4.5 t/ha [tons per hectare], roughly equal to yield levels obtained ten years ago. At current [2008] yields, rice production is only marginally profitable.”
A report on the progress, up to mid October, of this crop’s harvesting revealed the current average yield as 4.6 tons per hectare. If the current trends continue then there will be little increase from last year’s yield. The mid October harvesting report was prepared the Extension Department of the GRDB.
There are several reasons for low yields, low profitability and the lack of improvement, the report said; chief among them is that the varieties of rice available for growers “have been historically low yielding genotypes, i.e., Rustic or backcrosses using Rustic as the recurrent parent.” The current varieties being used in the industry, according to the report, have genetic yield potential in excess of 7 tons per hectare but this can not be achieved because of poor crop management.
“The strategy for improving rice production on a more competitive basis in Guyana focuses on the identification and transfer of improved crop management practices, that permit available varieties to express more of their yield potential,” the report stated. Logical and integrated research and technology transfer efforts will have to be employed.
The report continued to give a description of the strategic management practices that when applied in an integrated manner and with precision, result in significant yield advances without increases in production costs per hectare. Farmer adoption of the improved management practices, the report noted, reduces unit costs, bringing a more competitive rice production.
From 2004 to last year, the report said, FLAR technical staff identified six management practices essential for high yields. While the practices have to be adjusted for each country the concepts remain the same. Date of planting; planting density; effective control of insects, especially during the early stages of crop development; balanced fertilization; early weed control; and efficient irrigation water management are the six strategic points which must be employed in an integrated manner to ensure high yields.
Simply selecting one or two of the practices and omitting the others, the report warned, will not result in significant yield increases. When the six strategic practices are applied with precision, large yield increases, frequently of the magnitude of 2 to 4 tons per hectare, can be obtained without increases in production costs per hectare.
Technology
However, many of the industry’s technological advances needed to gather information so the six strategies listed above can be properly employed to achieve higher yields are not available in Guyana.
Low and unstable yields, according to the report, are often the result of lack of attention to critical environment factors which directly affect production. Solar radiation is among the factors which affect production and rice is most sensitive to its levels during the period slightly before panicle initiation to post flowering.
Since solar radiation can greatly increase or decrease the yield of a crop, there must be some projection of it so farmers are able to select the most advantageous date of planting. However, Guyana like many other countries, the report said, does not have accurate long-term solar radiation information or numerous years of date of planting trials in order to recommend defined dates of planting.
Despite the lack of technology though, Guyanese farmers have years of experience with different planting dates and often know that yields are higher when planted in November-December as opposed to the crops planted in June-July. “There is much information concerning solar radiation levels during the year from neighboring Venezuela… This information combined with farmers’ observations is adequate to establish preferred dates of planting in Guyana,” the report advised.
Meanwhile, the conclusions of the initial FLAR/GRDB technology transfer programme (2007/ 2008), included in the report, revealed that the farmer-to-farmer extension method combined with the farmer field school is appropriate for Guyana.
There were still several deficiencies in the programme including lack of soil testing facilities that limit the calibration of fertilizer requirements for appropriate yield and lack of proper water management which limits the adoption of improved practices in certain regions, especially Region 6. In addition, more intensive technology transfer efforts are required including more frequent field days.
There is clear room for technological advancement in the industry and Singh said efforts are being made in this regard. Laser levellers, which Singh described as very simple technology, were recently made available to farmers. The technology, he said, although not new are upgraded models which will be very useful to farmers.