Harvesting of the spring crop of rice is 70 per cent complete and export to date is over 61,000 tonnes at a value of over US$35 million. The 2013 spring crop is said to be the largest yet.
The Rice Producers Association has stated that 201,621 acres have already been sowed and harvested compared to 2012 figures of 184,000 acres. The average yield is 5.4 tonnes per hectare versus the 2012 average of 4.4 tonnes per hectare. So far Region Six is performing the poorest. However at 77 per cent completion the average yield is still greater than last year’s and is 4.9 tonnes per hectares.
General Secretary of the RPA Dharamkumar Seeraj stated that “we have seen an increase in acreage sowed by 10 per cent and an increase in yield by 23 per cent”. He said the first crop for 2012 was valued at US$43 million in total and the
