As the paddy price row continues, members of a newly-formed farmers’ group have said that the price per bag for top quality paddy should be at least $4,000.
They were also up in arms over the government selling cheap rice in George-town where half of the country’s population lives.
At a meeting held earlier this month, members of the West Coast Demerara Farmers Association (WCDFA) determined that $4,000 was the minimum price for A-grade paddy, although farmers were dissatisfied that representatives of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) or the Guyana Rice Producers Association (RPA) could not quote prices prior to this crop.
However, GRDB General Manager, Jagnarine Singh, who was present at the meeting, reiterated that the miller and the farmer should decide the price of paddy, since price is dependent on the quality and the type of rice the miller is exporting.
President of the WCDFA, attorney-at-Law Nandine Ramkumar said rice miller Turhane Doerga was asked by the WCDFA to do an analysis of the international market and prepare a presentation to show farmers step by step how to arrive at the price they should be paid for a bag of paddy.
Doerga in his presentation gave a detailed analysis of the cost of rice production locally, using a six-acre plot of land as an example. According to his analysis, $80,200 is the cost associated with production of rice on the plot. However, at this point, the crop is still in the field. He said a combine charges $200 per bag to cut rice with the price expected to rise to $300, according to the farmers present. Thirty bags, the estimated output of the six-acre plot, would cost $6,000.
A truck owner would charge $150 per bag to transport paddy from the field to mill, which would be another $4,500.
Doerga said that since the prices for inputs and labour fluctuate these could therefore influence the price farmers should receive for paddy.
He said the analysis was necessary because the world market price of rice was expected to rise again, and farmers needed to be treated fairly.
Doerga also said that farmers are “consuming their equipment” meaning that in a few crops from now no proper machinery will be available to produce rice since farmers’ cost schedule does not include depreciation of machinery.
He said that according to the world market farmers should be paid $7,000 per bag for A-grade paddy in order to compensate for depreciation of machinery and to make a decent profit.
Doerga said there was a high possibility that his firm – Alesie Guyana (Group Management) – would be closing, since it is clearly not wanted. He referred to “the fight” put up by the GRDB to give his company a licence to operate.
Members of Parliament Khemraj Ramjattan of the Alliance For Change and Anthony Vieira of the PNCR-1G were also present.
In a short statement Ramjattan said he was sure there was a way for all sides involved to come together and resolve the situation since the closing of a major mill would only result in punishment for the farmers.
However, Singh said Alesie was not the only mill to have had its licence revoked and if the company complied with the laws its licence will be granted. He did not say which laws the company needed to comply with, even when asked by Ramjattan. Doerga was not forthcoming on the issue either.
Contacted after the meeting, Singh said Doerga had to comply with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations that he was currently in breach of. He said Alesie also still owed farmers and the GRDB. Singh said the GRDB has to ensure that Doerga is willing to walk a straight line before he is given another chance.
Singh had told the farmers at the meeting to be wary of those who promise high paddy prices and reminded them of past situations where money was owed them by Doerga, payment of which the RPA had to enforce.
Doerga acknowledged that his company indeed owed farmers, adding that although they were being paid in bits and pieces, “we are paying”.
Doerga said the GRDB was the platform where all interests of the farmers should be dealt with. Farmers, millers consumers, suppliers, government, traders and brokers should meet here and discuss what is best for the industry, he said. (Melissa Charles)
