– Chief Scientist
By Alexis Rodney
The Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) could announce the availability of a new variety of rice as early as 2018, if all goes well, Chief Scientist Dr Mahendra Persaud has said.
Any such announcement will depend on the amount of work put in to see the complete production of this variety.
Local rice farmers touring the field of the Burma Research Station at Mahaicony, ECD
Dr Persaud made this announcement in engaging more than 100 farmers from Regions 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, who were invited on Thursday to participate in the “field day” exercise of the Rice Research Station of the Guyana Rice Development Board, where they were given a full tour of the fields and exhibition area. This has been the first such exercise conducted by the Rice Research Station for 2017.
Dr Persaud said he could not give a specific time when the availability of this new variety would be announced, but he has assured that the GRDB is working to ensure it successfully completes all the trials that it needs to go through to ensure its establishment.
According to Dr Persaud, there are 14 varieties of rice currently in commercial cultivation in Guyana, and their successful establishment dates from as far back as in the 1970s. “The push (now) is to have another one that is of much better quality”, he told Guyana Times.
Over the last five years, GRDB has released a number of varieties. Dr Persaud said there was not much done for rice earlier. However, there is now “a good programme that is responding well”, he told Guyana Times.
“We have so many varieties at the GRDB. What we are trying to do (is), in order to improve our productivity and tolerance to seed pest, we need something better — a better plant and variety to counteract this (scourge),” he said.
Dr Persaud said this push to develop a new variety would always involve a higher yield, better pest and disease management, and better plant qualities.
He said the GRDB has been investing in bringing materials from overseas and in carrying out its own research.
Following a lengthy tour of the rice field, farmers were able to gather valuable information necessary for the successful promulgation of this new variety of rice, and even made recommendations to the Board, which Dr Persaud said would be taken into consideration.
Farmers who spoke with this publication said they were thankful for the opportunity to get a first-hand view of the work being carried out by the national rice board.
