While speaking at a briefing at the MoA’s boardroom on Monday where details of the assistance package were officially made available to the farmers, Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud said that the intervention was part of a series of measures being implemented to assist them. Among such measures, he listed the recent US$18.8M purchasing agreement inked with Venezuela, a 10-year strategic plan which has been put in place for the industry and research initiatives which he noted will significantly boost the industry.
According to Persaud, following a meeting with President Bharrat Jagdeo recently where the challenges facing the industry were discussed, the head of state asked that consultations be conducted with the rice farming community. He said that such consultations were held with the farmers, the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) and the Rice Producers Association (RPA), in which farmers made it clear that they were less interested in funding than technical support. He noted that they indicated that they needed a drying facility and fertilizer.
He said that at a follow up meeting last Friday with the President, a decision was taken to provide the $400M worth in support to the rice farmers, in which some $208M will be spent on providing direct support to the farmers while $180M will be spent on the establishment of 12 drying facilities in Regions 2,3,4,5 and 6. The remainder will be spent on monitoring and evaluation of the project.
General Secretary of the RPA Dharamkumar Seeraj said that the initiative is a start of what the body views as “the continuation of a process of seeing farmers’ involvement in post harvest activities,” noting that the body would like to see a $4B investment in the industry. He stated, however, that the recent initiative implemented by the authorities was a significant start.
According to Seeraj, the rice industry saw two good seasons last year but he noted that such success is unlikely to recur in the near future given the current state of affairs on the global market. He said that rice farmers had been expending significant sums of money on rice production but their profits are below their expectations.
According to the MoA, among the key issues affecting the rice industry in Guyana are reduced world market prices due to the seasonal harvest in Europe, the United States and Asia; unsatisfactory prices offered to farmers; and delays at mills resulting in longer turn around time and deterioration in the quality of paddy. As a result, the MoA stated that such issues are likely to give rise to a domino effect on credit fall-out that will be significant due to low prices in addition to preventing farmers from cultivating at full capacity. Also, farmers will require decoupled support to enhance their efficiency and competitiveness while future exports can also be affected.
Where the fertilizer assistance is concerned, some 5,364 farmers will receive assistance from the authorities; 4,164 farmers who are cultivating between 1 to 30 acres will receive $110M. Fertilizer vouchers equivalent to approximately 50% of the cost per bag of urea will be provided to farmers by the RPA. These can be exchanged at local retailers of urea; at the current fertilizer price, each voucher is worth $2,200.
The GRDB will contract the RPA to construct the drying facilities and the body will in turn establish locations for the construction of the drying floors. The RPA will also establish ownership/control of such locations and will also manage and maintain the drying facilities.
