Essequibo farmers to be given aid with paddy bug infestation

Following concerns raised by a number of rice farmers along the Essequibo Coast about severe paddy bug infestations, recently appointed Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha held a meeting yesterday with officials from the Guyana Rice Development Board and instructed that help be provided to the growers.

A release from the Ministry of Agriculture said that the meeting came after Mustapha would have met with various Heads of Departments from the Ministry on Thursday last for a status report on their respective departments. It was during that meeting that the Minister instructed the head of the Rice Board, Nizam Hassan to look into the issue and prepare a detailed report on what is happening and what can be done to assist farmers.

Mustapha told the officials that this is a matter that needs to be handled urgently, as the rice industry remains one of the country’s largest industries.

“The interest of rice farmers and all other farmers are of utmost importance to this government. We need to work immediately to solve this issue in Essequibo. Millions of dollars in losses are at stake and we must ensure that our rice farmers do not suffer. They are already dealing with the financial hardship of the Coronavirus,” Mustapha said.

Rice farmers have complained that the paddy bugs have been swarming in abandoned fields waiting to attack the rice crop which is flowering at this time. It was reported that close to 33,000 acres of rice are under threat.