Grade Six Social Studies

From 2B

River. The rock is blasted away by explosives and loaded into barges for shipment to the coastland. Toolsie Persaud Limited is one company that quarries stone in Guyana.

LET’S Examine Our Agricultural Resources!

Fact/Tip: Guyana’s economy is based mainly on agriculture. The products include rice, sugar, coconuts, citrus fruits, green and yellow vegetables, and ground provisions.

RICE

Rice is one of Guyana’s main agricultural products. It was first grown by runaway African slaves for food, but it was the East Indian indentured labourers, who came with their knowledge of the crop and helped to make the industry the viable one that it is today.

Rice is grown on the Low Coastal Plain in silty clay or mud. The land is first ploughed by a tractor and then flooded with water. The paddy seeds are scattered on the land and left to germinate. During the period when the plants mature, the farmer has to ensure that there is an adequate supply of water. This is to ensure that he has “full” paddy grains when the crop is ready to be reaped. He also has to spray the young plants to keep away pests such as paddy bugs, which destroy the crop.

Formerly, paddy seeds were planted on nursery beds and then transplanted onto the fields. Today, however, the seeds are broadcast directly into the ploughed and flooded fields.

Although the paddy plants need a lot of water when they are growing, as the time for reaping approaches they need sunshine to ripen the grain and to dry the land so that the crop may be easily reaped.

In the past, reaping was done by hand using sickles or grass knives. The paddy was then threshed by bullocks at the Kharian, winnowed, and placed into jute bags to be taken to the rice mills. With the introduction of technology, cutting, threshing, and bagging are all done by a machine called a combine harvester. This enables large fields of paddy to be reaped in a shorter time. The paddy is transported to the mills to be processed.

At the mills, two types of rice are produced. They are:

● brown or parboiled rice, which is produced when the paddy is soaked, steamed, dried, and milled

● White rice in which the paddy is dried and then milled

Fact/Tip: Some of the rice is sold on the local market and the remainder is exported to Caricom states and other countries.

Some companies which have assisted in the development of the rice industry are Kayman Sankar and Company Limited, Mahaicony Rice Limited, and Caricom Rice Mills Limited, while the Guyana Rice Development Board and the Guyana Rice Producers Association have also been integral.

Rice production areas include Black Bush Polder, the Essequibo Coast and Islands, Anna Regina, the coastlands along the Corentyne, and the Mahaica Mahaicony Abary-Agricultural Development Authority (MMA ADA).

Did you know? Some of the by-products of the rice industry are bran, bhusi, rice straw and broken rice. Bran and bhusi are used as cattle feed, the rice straw is used for craft work and the broken rice is used in industries, for example, in the brewing of beer.

Let’s Examine Our Fruits and Vegetables

Guyana produces a wide variety of fruits, green and yellow vegetables, and ground provisions. These crops are grown mostly in the denser populated areas of the country. They may be grown on a small scale in-home or “kitchen” gardens or large farms. Among the crops are:

◊ Green and yellow vegetables - bora, ochroes, tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, pumpkins, cabbage, etc., are grown on a large scale at Black Bush Polder and along the coastlands.

◊ Fruits - pineapples which are grown abundantly along the SoesdykeLinden Highway; mangoes, cherries, guavas, bananas, citrus fruits, etc., which are grown on the coastal farms and in some interior areas.

◊ Ground provisions and their “COUSINS” - cassava, eddoes, yam, plantains, sweet potatoes, breadfruit, etc., are cultivated along the coastlands.

Fact/Tip: These crops are produced for the local market and exported to sister CARICOM states. Guyana with its fertile soil and untapped resources has the potential to become the food basket of the Caribbean.

Let’s Look at our LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION!

Cattle rearing is carried on in both the Interior Savannahs and the Intermediate Savannahs. In the Interior Savannahs at places such as Lethem and Dadanawa, beef cattle are reared. The cattle are tended by cowhands or vaqueros.

Guyana’s Savannah areas produce lush grass on which the cattle feed. When the animals are slaughtered, some of the meat is sent to Georgetown by air. Beef is also sold across the border to Brazil. Beef cattle that are reared on the coastland are slaughtered at the abattoir in Georgetown. Part of the meat is sold on the local market and some of it is shipped overseas.

At Ebini, Mara, Moblissa and other areas along the coastlands, dairy cattle are reared. The farmers have a ready market for their milk since it is bought by the Livestock Development Company (LIDCO). The milk is processed and sold on the local market. At Moblissa and other areas such as the St. Stanislaus College Dairy Farm, fresh cow’s milk is sold to consumers. The Farm also produces pasteurized milk, chocolate milk, cream cheese, and yogurt. These are sold at supermarkets locally.

Sheep, goats, and pigs are reared mainly along the coastlands. These animals are slaughtered and their meat is sold on the local market. From the pig, ham and bacon are also produced. In addition to the meat, the skins of some of these animals (e.g. cows and sheep) are also used. The skins are tanned into the leather to be used in cottage industries.

Poultry farms are located along the coastlands and the banks of the Demerara River. Eggs are incubated at hatcheries and young chicks are sold to poultry rearers. Two types of chicks are reared - meat birds for their flesh and layers for their eggs. Some poultry farms also rear ducks.

Fact/Tip: When the meat birds are ready for the market, they are plucked either by hand or machine and sold locally. The eggs are also sold on the local market.

Today, we examined some of the mineral resources and some of the agricultural resources found in Guyana. You would agree with me that Guyana is rich in natural resources for example gold, diamond, bauxite, and fertile land to name a few. Next week we begin our discussions on the Administrative regions of Guyana.

Be brave Boys and Girls!