Dear Editor,
The Guyana Rice Producers Association (RPA) would like to bring to the public’s attention, especially rice farmers in Region 2, several inaccuracies penned by Mr Mohamed Khan in his letter published in Stabroek News on April 14.
Firstly, the RPA is of the strong belief that this letter writer has his facts all wrong and seems to have lost his way. This is so because the RPA has been providing high quality seed paddy to rice farmers for the past 14 years under its Seed Paddy Production Programme. During this time, thousands of rice farmers throughout the country have benefited from easy access to high quality seed paddy at an affordable cost. Also, the seed programme has expanded significantly. As a result, the RPA has invested heavily in expanding and upgrading its seed cleaning and drying equipment to meet the high demand for seed. Currently, the association is unable to meet the high demand for seed by rice farmers.
The seed cleaner that Mr Mohamed Khan is referring to was replaced more than eight years ago with a seven-stage state-of-the-art seed cleaner that produced and continues to produce excellent results that meets the FAO’s seed specifications that the RPA uses to certify seed. It seems that Mr Khan is unaware of this fact.
Secondly, all the RPA’s contracted seed growers’ fields have to be certified by the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB). This body ensures that both the field and seed meet the FAO’s seed quality standards before it is sold to farmers. In addition, germination tests and purity analyses are carried out before seed paddy is sold to farmers. This system of checks has been in place from the inception of the seed programme and was the requirement that the RPA had to meet before funding was approved by several international funding agencies that made the RPA seed prgramme a reality. Mr Khan is aware of this, since as he stated in his letter, he was once employed by the RPA as a Field Officer when the seed programme commenced.
The statement by Mr Khan that he viewed seed samples sold by the RPA to farmers for the upcoming Spring crop which had more than 50% paddy damaged grain and wind paddy is totally untrue and misleading. At the time when Mr Khan penned his letter the RPA had not even sold one bag of seed to any farmer. Mr Khan of all people should know that seed this bad (more that 50% damaged) would surely be rejected before it even entered the RPA seed facility.
Both the production of seed paddy in the fields and the processing of seed at all the RPA seed facilities in the country are closely monitored. Frequent field visits are made by both the RPA and GRDB field officers. This ensures that all seed sold to farmers is of the highest quality and in the event that any farmer has any issue concerning seed purchased from the organization, these are always addressed to the satisfaction of the farmer.
The RPA realized that the rice industry does have issues that need to be addressed or improved since there is never a perfect system. The association sincerely hopes that Mr Khan is aware of this fact. It would also like to advise Mr Khan that in the future his criticism should be constructive and factual since the inaccuracies in his letter do not augur well for him as a so-called journalist.
In closing the organization would like to inform the public that they are free to examine the systems of operation at any of the RPA seed facilities in order to clear up any doubts they may have.
Yours faithfully,
Lionel Bhoodram
RPA
Field Extension Officer,
Region 2
Ricky Roopchand
RPA Project Officer
