…poor price affecting Region SixBENGAL, CORENTYNE – President of the Guyana Rice Producers’ Association, Leeka Rambirich, is calling on rice millers in Region Six to increase the price paid for paddy. If this is done, he said, more farmers would return to the land.“With the present price – $30,000 – $36,000 per ton, I think this is very low and it would not be profitable for farmers. Many of them would run into losses,” he said.For this present crop,Marcel Schmelzer Dortmund Shirts, farmers would now be paid an even lower price and moreso the quality of the product is expected to be poor.“This is the Region that millers are offering the lowest price in Guyana. This is so mainly because of competition.”East Berbice/Corentyne has two major buyers and the amount of rice planted surpasses the intake of the millers. Harvesting commenced on the Autumn Crop (second crop) of rice two weeks ago in East Berbice/Corentyne. So far some 1,Erik Durm Dortmund Shirts,500 acres have been harvested.The total acres sown for the Autumn Crop in Region Six was 46,972 and the target was 48,Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang Dortmund Shirts,000 acres. The total acreage planted for the Spring Crop (first crop) was 45,Thomas Muller Germany Jersey,000 acres. Some 90 percent of this crop is affected by ‘red rice’. This is rice that grows above the normal crop and is considered a weed. It affects the grade of the crop in terms of quality. This means about 60 percent of rice harvested would be sub-standard.The prolonged dry season also had an effect on this Autumn Crop with the front lands between Number Fifty-one Village and Rose Hall Town being tremendously affected.Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud, and the Region Six Administration in collaboration with the Rice Producers Association and the Guyana Rice Development Board,Asmir Begovic Chelsea Jersey, made the decision to relocate mobile pumps to Number Forty-three Village and the Eversham Outfall Channels. With that in place,Matteo Darmian Manchester United Jersey, the excess water was recycled from Black Bush Polder.These pumps assisted farmers between Number Forty-three Village and Bush Lot as well. For those in the Adventure/Whim communities, two of the irrigation systems – the MJ (Mibicuri/Joanna) and the Joanna Yakusari Irrigation Canals were closed. This allowed for water to flow into the Adventure/Whim areas.Farmers in the Number Fifty-one/Good Hope communities derived benefits from the placement of an addition tubing across the Yakusari Irrigation Canal.According to Mr. Rambirich, the Regional Administration was able to save the entire second crop and none was lost to the dry spell in East Berbice/Corentyne.He commended the Administration for making such a move. However, it is still not smooth sailing in the Crabwood Creek area, where there are 4,000 acres of rice under cultivation. These farmers depend solely on the Corentyne River for irrigation water and during the past weeks it was salty and this affected pumping. The Administration was forced to secure a supply of irrigation water from the Link Canal aback Crabwood Creek.It is hoped that this system would provide water to farmers in those areas.“We will continue to monitor the salt content of the water so as to resume pumping as soon as possible,” Rambirich said.In East Berbice/Corentyne, the two leading varieties planted are the G98-135 and G95-196. Generally in Guyana there are approximately 12 varies of rice being used. Each Region has a preference to the variety that suits the geographic location.In the last crop, two new varieties were introduced – GRDB 9 and GRDB 10. These are said to be more high yielding than the others.