The Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), through assistance from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and China, will be providing drone services to small rice farmers to help them increase rice production and improve rice quality.
Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha said the drone services will be provided free of charge to farmers to assist in crop management in the rice growing areas of Regions 2 (Pomeroon Supenam), 3 (West Demerara-Essequibo), 6 (East Berbice-Corentyne) and 5 (Mahaica-West Berbice). The Minister said, "The impact of this project will be far-reaching."
In partnership with CSCN, FAO provided a total of US$165,000 worth of drones, computers, and training for eight drone pilots and 12 geographic information system (GIS) data analysts. "This is a very important program that will have a very positive impact on rice development." GRDB General Manager Badrie Persaud said at the program's closing ceremony.
The project involves 350 rice farmers and GRDB Project Coordinator, Dahasrat Narain, said, "All rice fields in Guyana have been mapped and labeled for the farmers to view." He said, "Demonstration exercises included showing the farmers the exact uneven areas of their paddy fields and informing them of how much soil was needed to correct the problem, whether the sowing was even, the location of the seeds, the health of the plants and the salinity of the soil. "Mr. Narain explained that, "Drones can be used for disaster risk management and estimating damages, identifying the crop varieties, their age and their susceptibility to pests in paddy fields."
FAO Representative in Guyana, Dr. Gillian Smith, said the UN FAO believes that the initial benefits of the project far outweigh its actual benefits. "It brings a technology to the rice industry." She said, "FAO provided five drones and related technology."
The Agriculture Minister said Guyana is targeting 710,000 tons of rice production this year, with a forecast of 750,000 tons for next year.
Post time: Aug-13-2024