Guyana

General Information

· Main climates: Tropical Wet, Tropical Wet at 600 m above sea, Tropical Wet and Dry

· Total land area: 21 497 000 ha

· Internal renewable water resources: 241 km³

· Incoming water flow: - km³

· GNP per capita, 1998: PPP$ -

· Main food consumed: Rice, Wheat, Sugar & honey, Fruits, Meat

· Rice supply, 1999: 128 kg paddy/capita/year

Basic Statistics:

Producing Zones and Cropping Seasons

Rice is planted in four regions as shown in the following table.

Rice is planted in two seasons

Production Practices

The figure below shows the estimated harvested areas during the last five years.

The country developed a number of irrigated rice projects during the 1980s. They were the Abary Secondary Drainage and Irrigation covering 14 985 ha for mainly rice production; the Takapuma Irrigation covering 17 425 ha for rice and mixed crops; the Black Bush Polder Rehabilitation covering 9 315 ha of double rice crops; the Canal Polder covering 5 800 ha; the Pomeroon covering 2 835 ha; the Drainage and Irrigation Rehabilitation covering 5 164 ha; and lastly the East Bank Essequibo Agrocultural Development in Region 3 for 2 000 small farmers covering 8 500 ha. In Region 2, where large farms are available, rice is cultivated with complete mechanisation (sowing with aeroplane, mechanised land preparation and combined harvesters). In small (4 to 12 ha) and medium (12-24 ha) farms the degree of mechanisation is lower, rice is sown by hand broadcasting to wet soils and pesticides are applied using knapsack sprayers. Land preparation is carried out in two phases: plowing and disk harrowing during phase I and puddling in phase II using medium (75-90 HP) to large tractors equipped with cage wheels. A number of rice varieties were released for cultivation as shown in the following table.

Farmers applied generally about 60 to 90 kg N/ha, but information on rice responses to fertilizer application was limited.

Constraints and Issues of Sustainable Production

There are several constraints to sustainable rice production in Guyana. Following are the majors:

• Inadequate development of irrigation and drainage infrastructure.

• Weed competition.

• Blast, Hoja blanca.

• Lack of credit to farmers.

• Inadequate of input supply especially improved seeds, fertilizer.

• Inadequate drying and storage facilities.

• Lack of export facilities, especially bulk loading.

• The following table show the rice production costs.

Both rice-harvested area and yield increased substantially during the last five years. Higher yield and lower production cost, however, can still be obtained with the adoption of better crop management.

Research and Development Institutes

· National Agricultural Research Institute Mon Repos East Coast Demerara Phone: (020) 2841 Fax: (020) 4481

· University of Guyana P.O. Box 841 Georgetown

· Costal Plains Unit, NARI, Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara, Guyana

· Caribbean Agricultural Research & Development Institute 17 Brickdam Stabroek Georgetown Phone: (592-2) 64405 Fax: (592-2) 63175

· Guyana Rice Board 1-2 Water Street C/burg, Georgetown Phone: (02) 62466 Telex: 2266 RICEBRD