Rice was being grown in Guyana during the middle of the 18^th century. Seed was brought in from North America, first by the Dutch and later by the French.

African slaves were the first people to grow rice in Guyana. At first, they grew it on sugar plantations as food for the working force. Later it became the main part of the diet of runaway slaves.

In 1848, rice was freely grown from seed brought from Georgia in the USA; around the same time, a company was formed to grow 150 acres at plantation Vive-La-Force on the West Bank of Demerara. In 1855, it was hand-sown on the West Coast of Demerara with great success. Later on, farms spread to the Mahaicony, Abary and Canjie rivers.

Around that time, cultivation of the crop was also spreading to Essequibo where, in 1886, over 200 acres were under rice. By 1908, the area had increased to 38,000 acres.

Growth of the crop as a big business has been due largely to the efforts of the East Indian immigrants. These people, who were used to growing and eating rice in their native land, took to rice farming readily. At first, they used fields and water provided by sugar estate owners and grew rice to meet their own needs. Later, some of them grew rice for sale as their main source of income. Still later, others took over unused sugar estate lands and grew rice more widely.

Guyana moved from a net importer of some 20,000 tons in the mid 1880’s to a net exporter since 1908.

Guyana now has approximately 300,000 acres (double cropped) annually for rice cultivation distributed across five Regions.

Guyana 9501 – An improved Rice Variety

This semi – dwarf, indica variety is high yielding and resistant to Blast disease. It matures in 105-110 days. The grain is longer, slender and spindle shaped.

Fields must be level and provided with adequate irrigation and drainage outlets.

Plough when field is dry once or twice then harrow twice under wet conditions to prepare a good puddle for seed bed. Puddle at least one day before sowing.

Plant 120 lbs or 48 kg pregerminated seed per acre (130 kg/ha).

Use only Certified Seed with high (>95%) germinability. This variety does not have a dormancy period.

Pre-germinate seeds in jute bags by completely immersing in water for about 30 hours. Remove bags and keep moist under aerated conditions (frequent sprinkling of bags to promote quick and good sprouting). Never allow bags to dry.

Seeds are uniformly sown (Broadcast) in drained fields or in standing water prior to draining fields.

One week after sowing gradually raise the water level in the field but avoid submerging the seedlings. Thereafter, maintain standing water in the field to depths of one to four inches (2-10 cm).

Urea and Triple Superphosphate (TSP) fertilizers are required. The need for Muriate of Potash should be based on soil analysis information.

Broadcast uniformly a first application of 35 lb/acre urea (77 kg) and 30 lb/acre TSP (67kg) about two to three weeks after sowing. About eight to nine weeks after sowing apply the second dose of Urea at the rate of 24 lb (52 kg) per acre.

Rice is affected by grasses, broadleaves and sedges. Good land preparation and efficient water management are key factors for proper weed management in rice.

On well prepared fields, Guyana 9501 can be grown through a flood of 2-4 inches of water using pregerminated seeds.

As far as possible keep surrounding mires and dams free of weeds. Apart from being a reservoir of weed seeds they can harbour other pests such as paddy bugs.

Use clean seed paddy.

Avoid leaving soils exposed for long periods (4-5 days) during crop establishment.

Ronstar

This is a pre-emergent herbicide that must be applied just after the final land preparation (leveling). It must be applied at the rate of 2 l/ha (1¾ pints/acre) in water and allowed to settle for at least 4 days before sowing with pregerminated seed.

Propanil

Mix 4-6 pints in 40 gallons of water per acre (2¼ -3½ litres on 180 litres of water). Spray three weeks after sowing. Fields should be drained before spraying to expose weeds and reflooded 2-3 days after spraying.

Propanil and 2, 4 – D Mixture

If field is heavily infested with grasses, sedges and broadleaf weeds use a mixture of Propanil and 2, 4 – D at rates of 1¾ pints Propanil plus ½ pint 2, 4 – D (1.0 litres Propanil + 0.25 litres 2, 4 – D) per acre.

Insect pests require timely control. Pests such as rice Water Weevil, Leaf Miner, Army Worm and Rice Bug can be controlled by using Monocrotophos. The concentration of the purchased Monocrotophos and the method of application will determine the rate to be used per acre.

The variety, Guyana –9501, takes about 105-110 days to mature. Harvest when more than 85% of the grains on the upper portion of the panicles are ripe or yellow in colour and most of the grains on the lower portion of the panicles are also hard. This is essential to avoid crop lodging and loss of grain due to shattering, bird and rodent damage.