[www.inewsguyana.com] – The rice industry has exceeded 300,000 tonnes of rice as the first crop production for 2014 and could surpass 600,000 tonnes by December 2014.
This is according to Minister of Agriculture Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, who noted that the target achieved is a first in Guyana’s history, as well as in the Caribbean to produce this amount.
He noted that the claim 10 years ago that the country could produce 500,000 tonnes by 2020 was regarded as impossible; however Guyana did achieve this benchmark more than five years early. In 2013, Guyana produced 535,000 tonnes of rice.
“600,000 tonnes in 2014 is a real possibility,” the Minister stated. He attributed the increased rice production to science and technology which has transformed the rice sector in Guyana, “and it must transform the agriculture industry in our region,” he stated.
