Agri-students grasp rice farming techniques at GRDB Open Day
DPI, Guyana, Thursday, October 4, 2018
The work of the Guyana Rice Development Board’s (GRDB) Research Station at Burma, Mahaicony was on display to students from educational institutions, schools and the University of Guyana on Wednesday. They were shown various techniques for farming rice and by-products that can be made from the flour of rice.
Monet Lobert, from the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA), said that it was an amazing experience being at the open day exhibition since she was able to see first-hand some of the things that she was being taught in school.
“The breeding booth where they tell you about the cross-breeding of the variety, I find that very interesting and it is really amazing because everything that we do here is towards the development of Guyana and I am really passionate towards that, the developing of Guyana more… We are here, we see, and we learn and also we put into practice so when they teach it in the classroom, we can know what they are speaking about, so when we go into the field we can apply it.” “
Dashawna Williams also a student of Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA) said that she was astonished by the technology used in rice farming and the amount of work it takes for the production of rice. Williams, with an entrepreneurial mindset, was particularly interested in the by-products of rice. She said, “if you want to start your own business you have an idea because I saw they had on exhibition the by-products from the flour where they prepared different stuff so you can use that to bring in a form of income for yourself.”
Fifth form student of the Belladrum Secondary School, Carmalita Ward is of the view that the knowledge gained from the exhibition will play a big role in preparing her for the upcoming Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate examinations. “I will be writing agriculture for CXC and it has helped me a lot to come to this fair to understand the different techniques used for rice and the different machines that are used to cut rice.”
Research Assistant from the Agronomy Department, Tyrone English said that the students were curious about what really takes place in the production of rice. “We are always willing to share our knowledge because a lot of times we do a lot of work, but we do not get the opportunity to share with others what we do on a daily basis. So, we can safely say that it was encouraging and persons were asking questions and we were happy to share our knowledge.”
Minister of Agriculture, Noel Holder was also at the event with GRDB General Manager, Nizam Hassan. The event formed part of a series of activities being held by the ministry in observance of Agriculture Month under the theme “Shaping Agriculture for a Green Economy”.
By: Isaiah Braithwaite.
Images: Jules Gibson.