Rice harvesting has commenced in Pomeroon-Supenaam, Region Two, with farmers being offered $4,000 per bag for their paddy. This price is being offered to rice farmers for all grades. Stabroek News spoke with a few rice farmers who accused the millers of colluding to offer them $4,000 per bag.
One rice farmer from Perservance said that he sold two truckloads of his harvest to a nearby mill and further alleged that he was “robbed” of his true weight.
“You see you getting the price but they fix the scale and no one from GRDB doing anything about it. My trailer load supposed to give me 125 bags [and] you better believe we only get 117. We get robbed! For 12 acres we supposed to get over 500 bags and we barely get 428 at $4,000 [each]” a rice farmer related.
The rice farmers also told this newspaper that they thought that a better system would have been put place at the mills for officers from the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) to check the scales.
“It appears that the millers are fixing the scale and you can carry a lot of paddy but yet you not getting the weight and expectations. Who is there to check and represent us?” another rice farmer queried.
Rice farmers from the southern side of the coast related that they are enjoying the hot weather conditions to harvest the crop, however they would have loved to get the price they deserve. They are however thankful for the intervention made by the Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha with millers to raise the price.
“If we get the weight to match the price then all of we can be happy. We need GRDB to check the scales and the moisture content, something need to be done, rice farmers depend on this for a livelihood and we need to get our worth,” a rice farmer related.
Harvesting has commenced in villages such as Aurora, Colombia, Affiance, Anna Regina, and Cotton Field.
This newspaper visited several millers and observed that the price for a bag of paddy started from $4,000. Several tractors were seen in front of mills daily, offloading the rice farmers’ paddy.
On March 4th, the government brokered an agreement with the Guyana Rice Millers and Exporters Association (GRMEA) which will see the export levy paid to the GRDB being lifted for the first crop of this year. This agreement will translate into millers having more cash at their disposal to purchase paddy at a higher price. An estimated US $1.5 million is returning to millers’ pockets under the deal.
The announcement of the decision came on the heels of a meeting with President Irfaan Ali, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, Mustapha, GRDB officials and the association.
Farmers who spoke with Stabroek News contended that the price proposed will not allow them to be profitable as they wish. Depending on the yield and the grade of the rice, the price offered might only be favourable to a fraction of farmers.
From the millers’ end, Rajendra Persaud of Nand Persaud Company Ltd, a member of GRMEA, said they are finding it difficult to remain competitive as rice from Guyana is being sold at a higher price than from other markets in the US, Argentina, and Asian countries, thus making it difficult to pay farmers more for their paddy.
He expanded by saying the international market is currently saturated with rice from other countries, where it is being cultivated at a cheaper cost, and therefore being sold for a cheaper price.
“Our competitors are more profitable because they are having higher yields per hectare and are using technology as part of their cultivation. If we are entering the market with a tonne of rice at a higher price than our competitors who are offering the same product at $200 less, customers will go to the cheaper producers,” Persaud explained. He pointed out that markets close to Guyana, such as Venezuelan and Mexico are being inundated with cheaper rice and even when freight costs are factored in, the countries still save.
