Adoption and Performance of Rice Varieties in Guyana From 2009 to 2019

Abstract

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) production has been the pillar of the agriculture sector in Guyana and is the staple food for its people. It is currently the largest agricultural industry in the country, which serves as the bedrock for the Guyanese economy and is by far the most important constituent of the livelihoods of its people. The production of paddy has increased over the last decade, with the highest recorded in the First Crop 2019 of 525,649 Metric tons (Mt) at 6 t/ha. Over one hundred and seventy thousand (170,000) families benefit directly or indirectly from the rice industry. The Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) through its Research and Extension program, play a pivotal role in improving rice yields thus increasing the revenue earned. (www.grdb.gy). The adoption of technology is to make full use of an innovation as the best course of action available. The adoption of technology is consisted of the need of a new technology, creating awareness of a new technology, the interest the farmers have over a new technology, the deliberation the farmers have in accepting it, the willingness to try and evaluate a new technology and finally to adopt a technology for commercial purposes. Therefore, the objective of this study is to determine the extent of farmers’ “adoption and performance of rice varieties from 2009 to 2019. Over the last decade the GRDB would have released seven local high yielding varieties mainly the GRDB 9, GRDB 10, GRDB 11, GRDB 12, GRDB 13, GRDB 14 and GRDB 15. Prior to release, these varieties would have tested by the various departments at the Research Station for pest and disease tolerance/resistance, fertilizer and crop nutrition response and mainly the yield obtained. These varieties were further tested using the Advance Yield Trial (AYT) at the Research Station and in small plot of pilot farmers (plot size of 9m²). After two crops of AYT, these varieties were further tested in innovators field as an On Farm Trial (OFT) plot size of 45m². Each variety was tested using the OFT with at least 30 innovators (lead farmers) of the various rice growing districts. The main parameter taken during the OFT were, plant height, plants/m², flowering data, response to plant nutrients, fill and unfilled grains per panicle, 1000 grain weight and lodging. At the end of the trial a Farmer Field Day was held in each rice growing Region to evaluate the performance of these varieties. These varieties were well adopted by farmers across the various rice growing Regions, and due to their high yielding ability, variety such as the GRDB 10 occupied approximately 40% of the total cultivation while the GRDB 15 occupied approximately 10% at the moment.