Dear Editor,
Farmers have sold paddy for more than 5 months now and have not been paid. These farmers have families to maintain and have to find the necessary capital to go back into their fields. Many could have only survived by mortgaging assets (collateral) and paying interest to lending institutions.
When paddy was sold to the millers it was believed that the Rice Factories (Amendment) Act would have been operable. This act unequivocally states that 50% of the value of the produce must be paid within a two-weeks period. The act further states that within a 42-day period full payment would be made. The legally binding Rice Factories Act also states that if there is failure of payment by the miller then an interest rate of 2% above the bank rate should be charged. Seeing that these clauses in the act have been disregarded, the Essequibo Paddy Farmers Association is now calling on the relevant authorities to enforce the factories act and bring much needed relief to their sufferings.
The PetroCaribe arrangement with Venezuela where rice and paddy are exchanged for oil shows that the minimum farmers should get for a bag of paddy is $4000. In most cases, farmers are only getting between $2000 and $3000 per bag. A closer look at the situation shows that the deal is primarily benefiting some millers and the government agencies like RPA and GRDB.
Some exorbitant costs, which might be exceedingly inflated are taken out for transportation, fumigating, etc. This unfairly takes away benefits farmers should receive. No representation is there for the farmers.
Timely payments to farmers are now a recurring decimal and so some long-term permanent solution should be found. One suggestion is that the government should set up a special fund where millers and farmers can borrow money at concessional rates. Of course the benefit from such an arrangement would not only be economic, but would have positive social and political repercussions.
Over the years farmers were told to increase their yields, and they have demonstrated maximum returns from the use of the resources at their disposal. Production and productivity have improved tremendously, so much so, that the factory return is the greatest in the country. This however seems to be counter-productive, as the increase in supply created a shock which significantly impacted the price paid for a bag of paddy.
Farmers are now uncertain of the way forward. It is realized that there is no sincerity to adopt measures that would alleviate this scenario. Exacerbating this situation is the poor management of the water in the conservancy. Shortages due to the wrong type of regulatory practices and wastage have seen many farmers pumping water into their fields to get the crop started. This has resulted in a further increase in the cost of production thereby putting more strain on the already burdened farmers.
There is absolutely no doubt that the rice industry is at a crossroads but with the appropriate action it can be saved. The government with a boasted 4% growth in the economy should not allow the industry to become a failure like sugar and gold; it has a lot to lose.
Yours faithfully,
Naith Ram
Paddy Farmers Association
Essequibo
