Dear Editor,
With reference to Mr T Ross’s letter ‘Government should take step steps to deal with “ Red Rice”’ (SN, August 17), red rice can easily be controlled by farmers . First the farmer must understand that rice belongs to the group of plants collectively referred to as the grass family or Poaceae. From time to time red rice will infest the rice crops, because it belongs to the rice family, but it can be controlled if the correct method of land preparation and water management is applied.
The scientific name of the rice plant is Oryza sativa. There are many other members of this smaller group of rice plants, but most of them like red rice are referred to as wild rice, or the ordinary variety. Two of these species of the wild rice plant are normally found in the Mahaicony, Wakapao and Rupununi areas. On my travel to Venezuela when crossing over to Curiapo I also saw the Warao Indians planting and reaping wild rice. Once the necessary steps are taken to obtain clean, good seeds that are free of red rice and weed seeds, the problem can be controlled.
I remember before the late rice magnate Mr Kayman Sankar came to the Essequibo Coast, red rice was dominating the 35,500 acres of rice lands and causing havoc. The year- round favourable dry weather conditions support the survival and proliferation of red rice, with consequential yield losses and poor quality of grain. Farmers in Region Two did not know that the young seedlings when broadcast can grow under water for 7 days. Mr Kayman Sankar, in order to control the red rice, began to plough his rice fields twice (2 cuts), harrowing twice, once dry and once in water, puddling and then levelling the land.
This helped to destroy the initial red rice and weed population; the germinated seeds would then be broadcast into 7 inches of water in the field where it will remain for 4-7 days, and depending on the levelling of the field, the water will gradually be released until the field is dry. The field will then be refilled with clean water just above the young rice plants after 4 days of sunlight. Whatever little red rice is left in the field can be removed manually by pulling out; this can be done before seeds are produced.
This method of rice cultivation which was used by Mr Kayman Sankar has controlled red rice in Region Two and increased the milling yield. But in cases when there is poor water management and long dry spell the fields will be without water for long periods, and this will encourage red rice, schoonord grass, muraina grass, bird seed grass and monkey tail to quickly grow in the field. During the El Nino weather phenomenon in 1998, these weeds quickly infested the rice crop, and a programme was put in place by the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) to help eradicate them.
This team was headed by GRDB scientist Mr Leroy Small, myself and Cyril Lochan, who were rice extension officers, in Region Two. Early in the morning we would go to the most highly infested field along with the farmer who owned the rice plot; a labourer was hired to use his mist blower to spray the entire rice field with a chemical. This experiment was successful and it helped to eradicate these weeds, but after a time this programme ended for some unknown reason and the region became infested with more weeds.
The coalition government, GRDB and the Ministry of Agriculture will need to conduct such a programme in all the rice-growing regions to help eradicate these weeds and red rice and help to boost the rice industry once more with high quality paddy and rice for export markets overseas, where the government and millers can get lucrative prices for their produce. Combines reaping the crops and tractors ploughing the fields, help to transport weeds and red rice into clean fields when moving from weed infested fields to clean fields. Cattle can also do the same through their digestive system.
Yours faithfully,
Mohamed Khan
