The rice industry should target the animal feeds industry

Dear Editor, Like the myriad of concerned Guyanese, I have been following the vicissitudes of the rice sector, and like most, if not all, look forward to the early resolution of the circumscribing factors. While the National Rice Industry Conference was instructive, and at least in a cursory manner addressed the crop’s sustainable development, I am of the view that a key factor is being overlooked, viz, the diversification of production to target the needs of the animal feed industry.

The latter, to my mind, illogically spends a lot of foreign exchange on the importation of corn. Now, from a nutritional viewpoint, corn like rice is basically a carbohydrate concentrate. The only advantage of yellow corn over rice is its pro-vitamin A content which is necessary for the yellowing of the egg yolk; this can be cheaply substituted for anyway.

Against this background, it seems prudent that the rice industry czars in collaboration with the animal feed manufacturers determine an acreage for the cultivation of short grain varieties (or other IRRI recently developed varieties), which are generally higher yielding than the long grain varieties currently cultivated for human consumption. As an animal feed, the amount of milling necessary will be minimal as only the fibrous husk will need to be removed; there will be absolutely no need for polishing. The resultant savings in processing will therefore further redound to the benefit of the rice millers, who may then share the bonanza with the farmers.

The industry can then concentrate on satisfying a diversified local market for grain for human consumption, for animal feeds, and for blended flours à la Banks DIH; Caricom may then become the major external market. Yours faithfully, V O M McPherson Animal Production Scientist