The $500 million allocation for the rice sector in this year’s national budget will not be disbursed as individual pay-outs to farmers, according to President of the Rice Producers Association (RPA), Dharamkumar Seeraj, who says that the funds will be used to assist the industry with sustainability projects.
Seeraj told Stabroek News that there is a wide misconception that the money is to be paid out to farmers and millers and that just isn’t the case. He said that the vast majority of the money will be going towards research and subsidising fertiliser to assist farmers to make purchases at a reduced cost for the second crop.
Seeraj said that the $500 million was relatively very little for the industry,