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BENGAL, CORENTYNE — The situation in the rice industry in Region Six has improved tremendously, according to the President of the Guyana Rice Producers’ Association, Leeka Rambrich. The total number of acres sown as of Friday, January 30 stands at 44,548. The target for this first crop — Spring Crop — is 48,000 acres.President of the Guyana Rice Producers’ Association, Leeka RambrichMr. Rambrich said that it is not advisable for rice farmers to continue to sow for this present crop, since it is now February and this would have some impact on harvesting. “If you sow now in February, the rice would not be ready for harvest until in June, and during May/June is always heavy rain. This means that the dams would be in a bad state and it would also have some effect on the autumn crop.”Should they continue to sow, farmers are doing so at great risk of losing their entire crop, and in some cases they would not be able to harvest the paddy, given the expected weather at that time and the condition of the fields.The total acreage sown to date is 8,000 more than that planted for the last crop in 2008. “This shows a remarkable improvement in the way farmers heeded the call from the Agriculture Minister on the ‘Grow More Campaign’.”As a result of the December rainfall, some 60 percent of the crop was under threat, but when the weather improved,Nike Vapormax Plus Womens, only 2,677 acres were actually lost, based on a recent assessment.In the front lands — from Crabwood Creek to the East Bank of Berbice, including East and West Canje — 1,087 acres were lost; while in Black Bush Polder, 1,580 acres were lost.To some rice farmers this is a huge blow. Many of them are small farmers, and some are for the first time investing in the crop.In the Follow-Up Scheme this is aback of Port Mourant, a first time farmer lost 210 acres, while many other small farmers lost, on an individual basis, between five and 15 acres across the region.The President of the Guyana Rice Producers’ Association has said that Government, through the Ministry of Agriculture, is conduction a verification exercise to determine the legitimate farmers who would have suffered losses in one way or the other.At the end of this process, assistance would be handed out in the form of fertilizer and seed paddy, but not cash. “In my region, the farmers are thankful to the ministry for this help and hope that it can, in some way, cushion the loss they suffered.”Meanwhile, the present age of this rice crop is between ten and 70 days old. This means that the rice plants above 60 days old would begin to flower, and harvesting can commence within another four to six weeks, depending on the variety.In East Berbice /Corentyne, the two leading varieties planted are the G98-135 and G95-196. Generally, in Guyana, there are approximately 12 varieties used. Each region has a preference for a variety to suit the geographic location.The Research Station at Burma on the West Coast of Berbice, in Region Five, is currently conducting trials on two high-yielding varieties with germ plasma that came from the Flar Company in the United States of America.Guyana is a member of the Flar Organization, and as such was able to acquire these seeds to conduct the experiments to decide which seeds are more favourable or adaptable to local conditions, and which may be able to produce higher yields.In the farmers’ field, there are two of these breeding lines on trial. “We are hoping that for this crop the Minister of Agriculture would see it fit to have those two lines released as varieties. This would help to improve the yield, so that farmers can benefit more.”In Region Six, the Guyana Rice Development Board, in collaboration with the Rice Producers’ Association, established five Farmers’ Field Schools. Two of these are at Black Bush Polder — Lesbeholden and Mibicuri; two in the Number Fifty-Two/Seventy-Four area, and one at Crabwood Creek. These Farmers’ Field Schools are where farmers meet and share their knowledge. It is an ongoing process conducted every crop.Meanwhile, Mr. Rambrich is once again appealing to cattle farmers within the Number Fifty-Eight/Number Sixty Villages to be more considerate. “Their cattle continue to wreak havoc on farmers’ fields in these communities, and this results in tremendous loss to the rice farmers within these areas.”According to him, the restrictions that were erected recently have been damaged in many sections. From all appearances, the culprits are cattle farmers.In the Upper Corentyne area, 30 head of cattle were poisoned during last week by persons unknown. This, according to Mr. Rambrich, was reported to the committee set up to monitor the ongoing cattle/rice farmers’ conflict.According to some sources, the problem is unbearable to many rice farmers in the Central Corentyne area, thus many of them have decided to shoot the cattle, which they deem ‘wild cattle’.One farmer on the Corentyne indicated that when harm is done to rice crop, the owners of the cattle never come forward to shoulder their responsibility.It is almost impossible to have these animals impounded, the sources said, since the cattle operate as if they have a mind of their own, and venture out only after dark.When the issue was raised with the President of the Guyana Rice Producers’ Association, he said that representation would be made to the Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud, for an urgent meeting with both cattle and rice farmers, to see how best the matter can be resolved.