Rice production is poised to exceed this year’s 450,000 tonnes target, according to Agriculture Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy, who says that the current second crop has shown that the paddy bug has had very little impact.
In Essequibo alone, 10 to15 percent of the fields have been harvested and the agriculture ministry is reporting that damaged paddy is less than five per cent, according to the Government Information Agency (GINA). For 2012, rice production was the highest it had ever been, sitting at over 422,000 tonnes. Ramsammy, who noted that the second crop harvest has just begun, told GINA that weather has had a huge impact on the industry. He noted that while the first crop’s production exceeded 263,500 tonnes, it could have been as much as 300,000 tonnes had it not been for partial drought conditions and paddy bug.
During the first crop, Essequibo rice farmers were leery about a paddy bug infestation. Farmers had previously told
