Dear Editor,
In the rice industry, the fair grading of farmers’ paddy is of paramount importance. On the Essequibo Coast, the grading methods for paddy were found to be statistically flawed at some rice mills and very subjective in nature, hence they were not accepted by rice farmers.
The Guyana Rice Development (GRDB) Quality Control Department, must ensure that more farmers are trained in rice and paddy grading. The department should meet regularly to discuss the strategy used by millers to grade farmers’ paddy and compile reports on the performance of trained graders who are attached to the rice mills.
The Regional Co-ordinator of the GRDB Anna Regina Branch, must report on the conditions of the Quality Control laboratories at the export mills, and the millers must be informed that the condition for licensing is that they must employ trained graders and have proper certified equipment in the laboratory.
The periods for farmers’ payments and interest should be stated on contracts instead of the crop; amendments to contracts should state the price which farmers will accept. Standards were formulated in 1999 in an effort to improve the rice industry and the farmers’ well-being.
They prescribe the requirements for grades of paddy and also specify the general conditions for sampling and the methodologies for assessing the various factors used in determining the grades; these are not being carried out by millers.
Most of the mills do not have a Burrows digital moisture computer 700, paddy shellers, riddle, aspirator and polishers ‒ the equipment used in the testing and analysis of grades.
Yours faithfully,
Mohamed Khan
