Dear Editor,
I would like to respond to Mr Ramdular Singh’s letter (SN October 19) titled ‘Farmers need TSP fertilizer.’
The major phosphate (P) fertilizers sources that are currently used in Guyana are diammonium phosphate (DAP) and triple super phosphate (TSP). These P fertilizers are all produced from rock phosphate which is insoluble and must be treated with acid to make the water soluble fertilizers. Triple super phosphate fertilizer is made by reacting rock phosphate with phosphoric acid to produce a P fertilizer. This is a dry granular fertilizer utilized in bulk blending for making zero N grade complete fertilizers.
World fertilizer demand is predicted to increase by approximately 2.7% per year, although phosphorus fertilizer supplies would have been adequate. However, prices have increased because of the higher cost for anhydrous ammonia in the manufacturing process for DAP and TSP, as well as increased transportation and energy costs. Guyanese growers will have to pay world market prices as the companies that mine rock phosphate and manufacture finished fertilizers are international.
Mr Singh mentioned that “We cannot produce rice without TSP fertilizer.” I would not agree with that since rice is and has been successfully grown in Guyana with P fertilizer other than TSP.
He also said that “the RPA is bringing cheap urea.” There is nothing like “cheap” fertilizer. I guess what the RPA is trying to do is to import the urea in bulk, thus making it available at a lower rate than the commercial dealers do. This should be commended since the RPA efforts are intended to make the industry competitive as possible.
He went on to say that the “government does not have the technical people to advise them.” This is not true since the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) has its research station at Burma, Mahaicony that specifically deals with rice research and has a section dealing with nutrient management headed by qualified and experienced personnel.
Mr Singh also mentioned that TSP had to be used every crop; this is not entirely true since P is not leached or lost from the soil as easily as N, and whatever P is present in the soil should be available to the plant for its use. However, the availability of P depends on many factors and thus the management applied by the farmer and the soil status will determine the P available to the plant. It is well established that flooding, among other things, increases the availability of soil P to rice.
Mr Singh went on to say “The RPA people do not know anything about rice..” The RPA has been established since the early ’70s and has since then been working for the cause of the Guyanese rice farmers. It is made up of mainly rice farmers from all parts of the country and thus its policy and activities are governed by these farmers themselves. So it would be an insult to them to say that the RPA did not know anything about rice; it is like saying that rice farmers don’t know what they are doing.
Notwithstanding all that I have said, I think that more research has to be done in the area of nutrient management, especially site specific nutrient management, the laboratory testing of rice soils, and the sensitization of farmers to current issues affecting the rice industry.
Yours faithfully,
Bissasar Chintamanie
