-Agriculture minister
The consignment of local paddy said to be infected with a Tilletia type fungus is being fumigated in Colombia, Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud said last week.
According to Persaud, fungus infected paddy can be “treated” and in this case fumigation is being applied.
Saj Rice Group (SRG) and the Ministry of Agriculture are awaiting an independent lab report, which should have arrived since last Saturday, on the analysis of a sample of the infected paddy. However, the minister said a second sample had been sent to another lab for analysis and results were expected by the middle of next week. The testing for the fungus, the minister explained, was a process that required culturing and then analysis.
General Manager of SRG Carlos Carbo had informed this newspaper that the paddy had been sold locally to INTERBAHIA Investment, a Colombia-based company, and then shipped to that country. However, Carbo stressed that the paddy was free of any disease, fungus or quality issues when it left local shores for Colombia.
The Agriculture Minister told Stabroek News earlier that, “The Guyana Rice Development Board and Saj Rice Inc/ INTERBAHIA Investment are aggressively pursuing this matter since the authorities in Colombia have not changed their decision to return 1,000 tonnes of paddy to Guyana.” When questioned last week about whether Colombia should have returned the paddy in the first place, since the contagious characteristic of the fungus would pose a threat to the local rice industry as well, the minister did not comment.
It must be noted, Persaud had said, that testing for fungus was not a requirement in the rice trade because it was always a condition that the rice/paddy be well winnowed and dried. Fungus needed moisture to exist and grow, Persaud explained, and with moisture between 12 and 14 per cent no fungus would exist. This paddy departed with moisture of 12.6 per cent, he said. “Information was received that Colombia has also stopped the imports of rice from the Andean Community (Peru, Venezuela and Ecuador),” Persaud went on; “I have formally written the Colombian Minister of Agriculture outlining Guyana’s position and invited additional discussion to resolve this matter. We will engage Colombia on our concerns.”
Reacting to a claim by the Colombian Farming Institute (CFI) that the 1,000 tonne shipment was infested with a Tilletia-type fungus, Carbo had emphasized that paddy was subject to quality control procedures and tests from the “Rice Lab” before leaving Guyana. He had explained that quality checks had been carried out by the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB).
CFI, according to Carbo, has stated that the shipment is infected with Tilletia barclayana, a fungus which attacks rice kernels. However, he said he had received information which stated that the presence of this fungus had never been reported in Guyana. The Ministry of Agriculture, Carbo continued, had confirmed this with support from CABI and EPPO.
According to Carbo, Tilletia fungi are found only in temperate climates and cause severe damage to the kernels. Neither a written report nor a lab analysis, he pointed out, had been given to the Colombia importer to support statements it made initially to the media with regard to the issue. Carbo stated that SRG had also learnt that a shipment of rice from the United States which arrived in Colombia four or five days earlier, had been infected by Tilletia indica, a similar strain of the fungus. This, Carbo said, gave strength to the theory that the infection could have occurred after the shipment arrived in Colombia.
According to a Reuters report published on March 28, the CFI announced that 1,064 tons of rice found to be contaminated with “an identified exotic disease” would be returned to Guyana.
The same fungus, Reuters said, had been detected in 5,493 tons of rice originating from the United States. Fearing a possible spread of the fungus in the territory, Colombia immediately ordered the rice transported back to its source.
Colombia has the US$2.6 million worth of infected shipment aboard a vessel docked at Port Barranquilla in an attempt to avoid possible contamination of Colombia’s cereals.
“All the agricultural imports that enter Colombia are put under a process of quality control,” Reuters said. The fungus identified during this process corresponded to the Tilletia sort plague – a type of fungus which targets cereals. Controlling such a fungus would increase production costs and products would not be marketable if contaminated.
In December, Colombia approved a tender to import 75,000 tons of rice at zero duty to reduce the cost of the product on the local market.
