He told the Chronicle Thursday that to date some 220,000 tonnes of paddy have been reaped and the final figure should be about 260,000 tonnes.

Harvesting in Region Five was affected by the late planting of the crop caused by a shortage of water, while in Black Bush Polder in Region Six there was some level of flooding, he said.

In Region Five, 23,000 acres have been reaped with another 4,000 acres remaining while in Region Six, 12,000 acres have been harvested with 2,000 acres remaining. On the Corentyne, 15,600 acres have been harvested, Seeraj said.

In Regions Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam), Three (West Demerara/Essequibo Islands) and Four (Demerara/Mahaica), harvesting has ended and in some communities land preparation for the next crop has begun, which is ideal with the current rainfall, he said.

More than 11,000 acres in Region Two have already been prepared for cultivation and for this crop it is anticipated that about 24,000 acres would be planted, Seeraj said.

In Region Three, cultivation has started on the islands of Leguan and Wakenaam, but farmers there are experiencing difficulties in accessing seed paddy, the official said, adding that because of the acute shortage of fresh water from the prolonged dry season, farmers in Leguan did not plant for the last crop. In Wakenaam, only a small amount of planting was done.

Seeraj said land preparation is continuing on the West Demerara.

The least problematic area was Cane Grove where most of the rice lands are located in Region Four, he reported, stating that the 23,000 acres cultivated have been reaped.

The Spring crop was severely affected by a shortage of water because of a prolonged dry season during its early stages, while at the end of the crop many areas were affected by paddy bug infestation and output was curtailed by about 25 per cent of the target, Seeraj explained.

He said that despite these problems, yields have been fairly high. In Essequibo, the yield for the crop was 29 bags per acre while in Regions Three, Four, Five and Six the corresponding figures were 32, 30, 29 and 28, respectively.

It is projected that 160,000 acres would be planted for the upcoming crop and production is targeted at 300,000 tonnes of paddy. With the current rainy weather there has been a dramatic reversal in Wakenaam and Leguan with respect to cultivation because of the availability of water now, Seeraj explained.

Paddy prices currently range between $700-$1,300 per bag from the lowest to the highest quality.

The official said that while this price is low, if a farmer receives about $1,000 per bag he should "break even" and any price above that will result in profits.

Meanwhile, implementation of the relief package for rice farmers who owe banks $10M as of August 2001, has started with the Guyana National Co-operative Bank (GNCB) interviewing about 60 per cent of its affected clients while other banks have placed advertisements in the newspapers inviting clients to go in to discuss the modalities of implementing the package, Seeraj said.

He assured that Guyana has no problems in meeting its international rice markets and said that recently there has been a slight improvement in the price of rice on the world market, which is expected to continue for some time.

He also pointed out that because of better market intelligence and strategies, Guyana is exporting more rice on the international market.

Jamaica is among countries buying increased amounts of Guyana's rice, he said.