GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC—The Guyana Rice Growth Board (GRDB)says it has already surpassed its half-year goal for 2024, with over 360,000 metric tonnes of rice produced within the first quarter of the 12 months.
Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha stated the GRDB has set the 2024 rice manufacturing goal to roughly 710,000 metric tonnes.
“For the primary half of the 12 months, we’ve already surpassed our goal and achieved a manufacturing of 362,030 metric tonnes,” Mustapha stated.
Figures present that manufacturing additionally elevated incrementally between 2022 and 2023. In 2022, 610,000 metric tonnes of rice had been produced, whereas 653,710 metric tonnes had been produced in 2023.
“After we take a look at the rice trade, we additionally see loads of income coming in… For instance, in 2023, it introduced in US$212 million. For the 12 months, virtually US$127 million have already been generated by this trade,” Mustapha famous.
The GRDB stated it has set a goal of 750,000 tonnes for subsequent 12 months.
Mustapha stated he believes the goal could be reached primarily based on the progressive enhance in rice manufacturing.
Moreover, between 2020 and 2024 (first crop), the rice yield has elevated from 5.9 tonnes per hectare to roughly 6.6 tonnes per hectare. It signifies that a farmer in 2020 harvested 38 luggage of rice per acre, and in 2024 is getting 41 luggage per acre.
“This happened due to the funding that the federal government has been making within the agriculture sector, particularly within the rice trade,” Mustapha stated.
Farmers have benefitted over the past 4 years from 9 high-yielding rice varieties being launched for industrial manufacturing, which have since boosted rice productiveness and sustainability.
The most recent number of rice to be launched was biofortified rice, which was launched final 12 months in the course of the Agri Funding Discussion board and Expo in collaboration with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).
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