Duck-rice integration to boost farmers’ income, cut production costs

• Climate-smart initiative expected to transform small-scale rice farming

Guyana’s rice industry is embracing an innovative climate-smart farming model that has the potential to significantly reduce production costs, improve environmental sustainability and create an additional source of income for hundreds of rice farmers.

The rice-duck integrated farming system, being piloted by the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), allows farmers to cultivate rice while simultaneously raising ducks on the same acreage, creating two marketable products from a single crop cycle.

The initiative is expected to reduce farmers’ reliance on costly herbicides, insecticides and synthetic fertilisers while improving profitability and supporting the government’s drive to modernise agriculture through sustainable production systems.

The Department of Public Information (DPI) sat down with GRDB’s Agronomist, Dr Ghansham Payman, who explained that ducks naturally perform several functions that would otherwise require expensive chemical inputs.

“The ducks work as weed control agents, and they feed on insects, snails and other pests, while their droppings return organic matter and nutrients to the soil. From our pilot project, farmers can reduce synthetic fertiliser application by 50 per cent or more,” Dr Payman stated.

The pilot project, which introduced 100 ducks per acre, has already demonstrated encouraging financial returns. According to Dr Payman, farmers were able to recover the entire investment made for duck housing, fencing, ducklings and feed within a single crop.

“We had 100 per cent recovery of the investment cost in one season. Moving forward, those infrastructure costs are already covered, meaning farmers stand to earn higher profits with every subsequent crop.”

Beyond lowering production costs, the integrated system offers farmers an additional income stream from duck sales while maintaining rice production on the same parcel of land. Dr Payman said the initiative is particularly suited to small-scale farmers who live close to their fields and can effectively manage the ducks throughout the production cycle.

“If we can transition 700 to 800 farmers from cultivating only rice to a rice-duck integrated system, they will maximise the use of the same piece of land while increasing profitability. It also creates opportunities for women and young people to participate in agriculture,” he added.

FAO’s Livestock Specialist Dr Gayle Young said the approach has been successfully practised in several Asian countries for decades and is now being adapted to Guyana’s conditions to create a sustainable production model.

“We are also focusing on gender because this system is easier to manage. It creates opportunities for women, youth and small farmers to participate in agricultural production while lowering overall production costs,” Dr Young said.

The Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) is providing technical support to ensure farmers produce healthy, market-ready ducks while building long-term sustainability.

GLDA’s Livestock Extension Coordinator, Selwyn Anthony, explained that the agency’s role is to support farmers with duck management, identify quality breeding stock and ensure continuity of the project, so farmers eventually become self-sufficient in producing their own ducklings.

The GLDA is also exploring opportunities to develop a premium market for ducks raised under the integrated system.

“Once we establish that the meat quality is similar or even superior, we can market it as pasture-raised ducks from rice fields. That creates an additional value-added product for farmers,” he said.

The project currently supports farmers across Guyana’s rice-growing regions with starter kits that include ducklings, feed, feeding and watering equipment, and fencing materials and is expected to expand during the next cropping season, allowing more farmers to benefit from the innovative production model.