The Agriculture Ministry yesterday announced that it has tasked the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) with assisting all farmers whose crops have been damaged by paddy bugs and who are now being offered “very low prices” for the affected paddy by millers.
The announcement came after three days of protests by farmers in Essequibo over the low prices being paid to them for paddy and also ahead of meetings planned for today in Region Two to address their concerns.
In a statement, the ministry said there has been increased production during this year’s first crop but it identified damage by paddy bugs as among the challenges to farmers and millers that have arisen.
It noted that the pest damage is evidently “more acute” in Region Two, though it said the problem appears to be experienced by a “small group” of farmers.
As a result, the ministry said that a technical team, consisting of officers of the ministry, the GRDB, the Rice Producers’ Association (RPA), the Pesticide and Toxic Chemi-cals Control Board (PTCCB) and the regional administration, has started work in Region Two to assess the situation and to make recommendations for measures to alleviate the challenges.
The recommendations will be used as the basis for providing support to farmers, it added, while noting that it is offering support to these farmers to assist them in resuming preparation for the second crop of the year.
Minister of Agriculture Dr Leslie Ramsammy will be meeting a representative group of farmers early in the coming week to discuss the form of support that the Ministry of Agriculture might be able to provide, the statement also said. However, today, officials of the ministry, the RPA, the GRDB and the Region Two administration will be having meetings at Hampton Court (10 am) and at Golden Fleece (4 pm), to address the situation.
On Friday, Essequibo farmers lined the Reliance to Anna Regina road with tractors and machinery as they upped a protest in order to get their concerns addressed.
Meanwhile, apart from the insect problem, the ministry said slow intake at the rice mills, availability of combines and trucks, availability of drying and storage capacity were affecting the prices offered for paddy.
It added technical teams have been deployed to assess the challenges and help resolve some of the concerns faced by farmers and millers.
“Working together we will overcome these challenges. As we did when we were faced with a shortage of irrigation water earlier in the crop, we urge full cooperation and urge political parties and elements to refrain from making this a political issue,” it further added, while calling on political parties to refrain from scoring political points and to work with the ministry so that our farmers are provided with all reasonable support.
Ramsammy, according to the statement, has called both shadow agriculture spokes-person on the opposition side, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine of APNU and Khemraj Ramjattan of the AFC, to update them on the situation in Essequibo and around the country. In addition, it noted the minister’s gratitude to the RPA General Secretary Dharamkumar Seeraj and the agriculture spokespersons for APNU and the AFC for their support in bringing relief to the present situation.
