Rice farmers in Berbice are expected to harvest their rice fields within weeks, but with the current untreated paddy bug infestation crisis that is affecting the region, the quality of paddy reaped will be terrible and worth nothing.
Paddy bugs on rice plants in Berbice
This is according to Regional Chairman of Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), David Armogan, who on Sunday told Guyana Times that most rice farmers in the Ancient County will suffer substantial financial losses from this crop if the matter is not addressed within the next few days.
“The representative of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) came to our agriculture committee meeting last week and he said that the GRDB is in the process of arranging to do aerial spraying in the region. They recognise that you have to kill all these paddy bugs at one blow…you have to be able to do one spray that could take care of all of them at the same time. The GRDB understands that but I don’t know what is preventing them from doing the aerial spray.”
According to the Chairman, the GRDB indicated that it will commence the aerial spraying in Region Six, but failed to correspond how soon this much-needed intervention will commence.
“The time is running because most of the rice is flowering and this is the time that the paddy bugs would infest the fields when there is flowering. In another two or three weeks, rice farmers will be harvesting so you would not get a good quality of paddy if these bugs continue to be in these fields. The whole of Berbice is basically an agricultural community and so if we don’t get help in the agriculture sector, it means that people are going to suffer.”
Deplorable dams
Compounding the plight of these rice farmers is the current deplorable state of the dams that they have to traverse to access their fields and transport their yields when harvesting commences.
“The dams are in a very bad condition and it might very well be difficult for them to take out the paddy with the present state. But at the regional level and at the level of National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), I am trying to put together some help to see how we can be able to assist them with the dams once the weather holds up,” Armogan stated.
He stressed the importance of remedying the issues affecting the rice farmers and pointed out that there is only so much that the regional authorities can do and without the intervention of Central Government, the economic situation in Berbice will continue to decline.
Just recently, a number of rice farmers reached out to this publication calling for aerial spraying to be allowed, claiming that if not, losses will be worse than those suffered during the last crop.
The GRDB had announced that it was expanding its paddy bug campaigns with intent to completely eradicate the issue.
Last crop, in the Number 52-72 Villages and Crabwood Creek, 17 farmers were forced to dump their paddy after mills refused them because of the damage as a result of the paddy bug infestation.
According to the GRDB, it has now adopted the strategy of using trained and experienced personnel to conduct spraying.
The new approach will see the GRDB not only spraying the fields, but also the perimeter to avoid the bugs getting to the actual rice crop, GRDB’s Allison Peters had stated.
However, Extension Officer Ramglan Singh explained that the GRDB has only contracted two motor blowers to the entire Region Six. The project commenced in the Number 52-74 rice cultivation area only.
“It has approximately 300 miles access dams, irrigation dams and drainage dams and two motor blowers will take them several months to complete just 52-74,” the Extension Officer had revealed.
However, that does not include the Black Bush Polder, Crabwood Creek, Lower Corentyne, both East and West Canje and East Bank Berbice, where rice is also being cultivated.
However, farmers are calling on Government to allow aerial spraying, noting that the paddy bugs are in the savannah and field, and dam spraying will not eradicate the insects.
