Paddy bug ravaging Essequibo Coast rice fields again

A number of rice farmers in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) are once again battling with a paddy bug infestation in their fields.
Several of these farmers told Guyana Times that their fields are now blossoming and this is the stage at which bugs are most present in their fields.
The affected fields are currently heavily infested with paddy bugs and while spraying is the only solution in order to maintain some control of the insects, the inclement weather pattern is also proving to be a hindrance.
According to one farmer, if he or any other rice farmer sprays the field, and then it rains, the chemicals utilised to help save the rice crops will not have the full effect as desired or expected.
This, in turn, provides an opportunity for the paddy bugs to become immune to the effects of some of those drugs, he noted.
Meanwhile, several rice farmers in the region have since said that they do not believe that the Government, via the Agriculture Ministry, is doing enough to protect the rice industry in their region, but instead, is channelling its resources and focus on the country’s oil and gas sector.
“We plant food and we contribute to the economy. We are feeding this nation and generate foreign currency. We are here already in the system, why neglect us?” questioned one frustrated farmer.
Many of the affected rice farmers reminded this publication that they are still heavily indebted to various banking institutions and other financial agencies which afforded them loans to commence and upkeep their rice farming activities.
They argued that presently, there are some rice millers who still owe rice farmers in Region Two large sums of monies amounting to millions of dollars, and that this is also contributing to the industry suffering a financial crisis.
Another rice farmer explained that if they are not being paid by the millers, then they do not have enough money to repay their loans and coupled with the fact of expenses being incurred as a result of the paddy bug infestation, it is having tremendous negative effects on their livelihoods.
Meanwhile, he lamented that while most farmers “took the risk to go back on the land” with an aim of getting a good yield to balance off their financial debts, it appears as if they may sink into “a deeper hole” in light of the paddy bug infestation and the Government’s lack of a response in this regard.
Just a few months ago, almost half of the Essequibo Coast rice crop had been affected by paddy bugs, resulting in tremendous damage during the last harvest.
At that time, President of the Essequibo Paddy Farmers’ Association, Naith Ram, confirmed that the association recorded that 45 per cent of the rice crops on the Essequibo Coast were severely affected by the paddy bug infestation and that the infestation during the final crop last year was worse.
He had also noted that despite the presence of a Guyana Rice and Development Board (GRDB) entomologist, the damage by the paddy bugs has been severe.