Black Bush farmers reap bumper rice harvest

DPI, Guyana, Friday, March 23, 2018

Rice farmers in the Black Bush Polder are celebrating a bumper crop with yields of 45 bags of paddy per acre.

In the Black Bush Polder, 18,000 acres were cultivated and a further 24,000 in the front lands of Corentyne Coast between Adventure and Number 43 Village.

Sixty-five percent, of the 18,000 acres of rice cultivated in Black Bush, has already been harvested. Another 4,500 acres remain in the fields to be harvested.

Roshad Gafoor, of Yakusari Black Bush Polder, said he has 45 acres under rice cultivation and is expecting to receive $1.9M for his paddy.

Another satisfied rice farmer is Sasenarine Ramnarine whose 21 acres have yielded him an average of 35 to 40 bags of paddy per acre. Ramnarine described this crop as an excellent one, particularly since during the previous crop some farmers were reaping 25 bags of paddy per acre in the Black Bush Polder. He attributed this abundant crop to proper field management and the correct use of fertilizers and insecticides.

According to Ramnarine, he previously planted the hybrid strain referred to as GRDB 10, however, this crop, he tried a hybrid strain from Brazil. It should be noted that some farmers who have planted the GRDB 10 have also reported similar yields to Ramnarine.

Chairman of Region Six, David Armogan who recently met with some of the farmers pointed to the fact that the reduced cost to hire trucks and combine harvesters for this crop had a positive effect on operational costs, resulting in larger profits for the rice farmers.

The chairman also explained that the regional administration is tackling the issue of ensuring that the fields in the backlands (Black Bush Polder) remain dry for harvesting, while those in the front lands, expected to be harvested in a few weeks, receive water that will be pumped into their fields.

“So that is a little problem that we have to keep the water in the canal at a level that it can reach to the front lands for those farmers and also at a level that if it rains there will be no flooding in Black Bush because then the farmers will not be able to reap and those who have not finished reaping will have big loses,” This, he said, can be controlled.

He also assured that the administration is looking into the “erection of a solid fence” to separate the rice cultivating area from the area where cattle are grazed, in order to prevent the destruction of the rice fields.  Armogan said that this will be carried out as a capital project in 2019.

 

 

By: Tanuja Raikha