The Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) and two Jamaican companies have signed deals that will see the rice exports to the island almost doubled.
In a statement, the GRDB announced that the two agreements were signed with the Jamaica Rice Milling Company Limited and Mousson (Jamaica) Limited, which have agreed to import a total of 80,000 tonnes of rice from Guyana this year. This is almost double the 48,000 tonnes that were exported to the island last year.
“The agreements seek to organise the supply of rice to the Jamaican market and prevent underpricing and under invoicing by suppliers,” the statement said, while noting that in addition to committing to importing increased volumes of rice, the companies have also established a price schedule with the minimum price to be paid for white rice being US$400 per tonne. “Prior to agreements, Guyanese exporters were receiving prices ranging from US$345 and US$370 per tonne. This means that Guyanese millers will earn an additional US$30 to US$55 per tonne of rice exported to Jamaica, or an additional US$2.4M to US$4.4M annually,” the statement added. It said that with the increased of price for rice, the millers are expected to offer higher price for paddy.
For the first (spring) crop of 2016, some mills are supposed to be paying between $2,200 (grade C) to $2,700 (Grade A) per bag of paddy.
The statement went on to say that the millers have already started to receive orders and one rice miller, who has received a 3,000-tonne order, hailed the agreement as a very positive step in the development of the rice industry of Guyana.
“Guyana Rice Development Board will continue to provide marketing and business facilitation services to all stakeholders in the industry in its efforts at building a strong and sustainable rice industry,” the statement concluded.
There has been mixed reception to the new deals with the two companies but Agriculture Minister Noel Holder said it was a deal that will benefit the farmers. “When the millers export the rice they were selling it at a lesser price than what the new deal will sell at and isn’t that beneficial to the farmers?” Holder questioned, while voicing his support for the deals.
“Well, once it giving we more money for our paddy, like it says, then we happy with it,” a rice farmer told Stabroek News. However, some of the farmers, who did not want to be named, said that the proposed prices still weren’t enough. “That still ain’t enough to do much, especially how this drought affect we. $2,700 is not enough, we need $3,000 to help we get back on the feet with all that we lost in the drought so we can get a good brace for when we have to start back in the next crop cycle,” another stated.
