-Agri Minister
The Ministry of Agriculture is “contemplating” freezing the export of paddy to allow the expansion of its “testing regime”, Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud said yesterday.
Among the reasons for the possible halt of paddy export is the recent case where a local consignment, shipped to Colombia in early March, was said to be infected with a Tilletia-type fungus.
General Manager of Saj Rice Group (SRG) Carlos Carbo had previously told 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 since it was subject to a series of tests and quality control processes.
The above facts were reiterated by the Agriculture Minister yesterday who added that although it is certain that the paddy left Guyana fungus free it still has not been confirmed whether the infection may have occurred after it arrived at Port Barranquilla.
The Colombian Farming Institute (CFI) had said that the 1,000-tonne shipment was infested with a Tilletia-type fungus. Reacting to this claim the SRG General Manager had 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 this fungus had never been reported in the rice industry here. The Ministry of Agriculture, Carbo continued, had confirmed this with support from CABI and EPPO. Tilletia fungi, according to Carbo, are found only in temperate climates and cause severe damage to the kernels.
Further, a shipment of paddy from the United States which arrived in Colombia four or five days before the Guyana consignment, had been infected by Tilletia indica, a similar strain of the fungus. This, Carbo had pointed out gives credence to the theory that the infection could have occurred after the shipment arrived in Colombia.
Presently, the testing regime is at its lowest, Persaud stated yesterday, and will have to be expanded to cover a range of other fungi since paddy is much more vulnerable when compared to its by-products. A more extensive system of testing will also assuage importers’ doubts of local paddy being infected with a variety of fungi. It will also avoid issues like the current case with Colombia.
The Minister noted earlier that testing for fungi 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 content between 12 and 14 per cent no fungus would exist. The paddy said to be infected departed with moisture content 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 said, adding, “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.” Persaud yesterday told Stabroek News that he has not received a reply from the Colombian Minister but “understands” that copies of the letter have been forwarded to the relevant Colombian Agriculture agencies.
Persaud had informed this newspaper that the infected paddy, which Colombia initially threatened to return, was being fumigated. However, when asked yesterday whether the fumigation process was completed the minister would only say that he was last informed that the paddy “was in the process of being fumigated”. SRG’s General Manager, when contacted last evening, was also unable to comment on the status of the fumigation.
Saj Rice Group (SRG) and the Ministry of Agriculture are still awaiting two lab reports on the analysis of samples of the infected paddy. One of the reports should have arrived two Saturdays ago. The testing for the fungus, the minister had explained, was a process that required culturing and then analysis.
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.”
According to a Reuters report published on March 28, the CFI announced that 1,064 tonnes 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 tonnes 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 tonnes of rice at zero duty to reduce the cost of the product on the local market.
