Dozens of disgruntled rice farmers today walked out of a forum with Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha at the Rice Producers Association (RPA) Bond at Anna Regina.
They are currently on the road protesting the situation in the rice industry. They are demanding a higher paddy price and are lamenting that other sectors of the country are getting assistance but they are not.
They argued that rice farmers in the region are cash-strapped and cannot go back into next crop.
“The contractor dem wha a build dem road and dem street know how much to build one road and how much to build one street but rice farmer…from de time yuh pick up plough and you go plough and yuh cut yuh paddy …you nah know what a bag you gon get”, an irate farmer said.
Another chimed in: “All a we a rice farmer got to tun contractor now…because nuff a dem aint got a tail and they getting contract”.
The Minister had journeyed to the area for an outreach with rice farmers.
