Increasing the cash flow from rice mills to rice producers is necessary to appease protesting farmers, General Secretary of the Rice Producers Association (RPA) Dharamkumar Seeraj said as Essequibo farmers protested again yesterday.
“The first line of action is the millers and making sure farmers are being paid,” Seeraj told Stabroek News. “Most of the millers have paid out to farmers, but for some they have paid out of their overdrafts because they haven’t exported to Venezuela yet.”
Seeraj stated that because of the Venezuelan election, overseas sales were precarious and the amount of paddy millers currently have in store was more than in previous years. “You have to know that this is the biggest crop. We’ve planted 22,000 more acres of paddy than normal so many mills don’t have cash reserves,” he said. But cash-strapped mills and cash-strapped farmers make for an explosive situation, he noted, adding that the RPA was working diligently to alleviate the tension.
“What has happened in the last few years especially in the Essequibo region is that farmers are used to a good crop season… Lots of farmers are renting their farm lands and the rented land goes for $25,000 to $35,000. Some farmers I spoke with are saying they are renting land for $45,000 an acre,” Seeraj stated. He said that normal rent used to be $10,000 per acre, but successful seasons have allowed farmers to rent land for higher prices.
“Unfortunately things have changed and lots of the paddy is damaged so farmers aren’t selling the highest grade of paddy and mills aren’t paying the highest amount and then farmers are stuck unable to pay the rents and they are waiting for payments from mills,” he said.
He stated that the Factory Act has provisions in place to assist farmers.
“The act says that 50 per cent of payments to farmers have to happen in the first two weeks,” he said adding that during discussions with farmers none of them said that this was not the case.
“The act then says that after 42 days the rest of the money has to be paid out,” he said and that this may be what farmers are waiting on. Seeraj noted that farmers had to tell the RPA and the Guyana Rice Development Board whenever millers were in breach of the act. “If they don’t tell us they aren’t getting paid, we can’t do anything… Millers need to pay or after 42 days they are charged interest.”
Seeraj stated that the back and forth between millers and farmers was one of the main reasons why the Agriculture Ministry, the RPA and the GRDB met farmers over the weekend. “We are gathering all of this information from farmers, we want to know how much acres they planted…, we want to know how much rent they are paying, the price per paddy they were paid. I want this information now… I want if they have issues to have them resolved it is that simple.”
Seeraj said farmers complained that feed would sell at market for $1,500 and mills were buying paddy for $500, “to that I said does it make sense to go to a mill then? Why not sell at market? Many farmers wanted to say they were getting low prices.”
He said that for many of the farmers who complained that mills were buying paddy for less than average and their grade of paddy was high, mills kept a sample of paddy for a month.
“The thing is this, the famers can call us and we and the GRDB can go in and check, but every certified mill has an officer who is there for farmers to ask questions and use at their disposal,” he said that farmers can always contest a miller’s paddy grade and ask a GRDB officer to weigh in on the matter.
The RPA representative stated that as far as subsidies go the rice industry has been extremely lucrative for farmers.
He said the Agriculture Ministry and the GRDB have previously assisted farmers in need. “They have gotten over $400 million when 2005 flood happened and then the paddy bug infestation,” he said.
He said that the situation this time is vastly different and a little bit of patience would go a long way.
Farmers however disagree. Many of them believe that many compounding issues have reduced them to protesting. “We have to stand up and say something. Sugar always getting and we are working hard,” an Essequibo farmer told Stabroek News.
Yet another stated that he was awaiting mill payments from the last crop and he had voiced his frustrations during a meeting with rice industry experts over the weekend.
Essequibo farmers took to the streets for the sixth day in a row, calling for an industry review yesterday. They said they have no intention of going back to the field until all their issues are acknowledged. Farmers had previously reported that low paddy prices and paddy bug disease have crippled this season’s crop.
