Dear Editor,
Harvesting of the present rice crop has commenced in Region Two, where farmers are making full use of the dry and sunny weather. While harvesting has not commenced in the central parts of the Essequibo Coast, the exercise is moving apace in the northern and southern sections. Business in this region depends heavily on the price of paddy; when the prices are low, business is dead here. Most businessmen are feeling the heat at the moment, and some have closed their doors, because they cannot afford to pay their staff.
However, the prices would have fallen anyhow since Venezuela had indicated that they would stop buying Guyana’s rice and paddy long before the regional and regional elections. The Venezuelan government had told the previous administration to seek markets elsewhere for the rice and paddy. Coming near to the 2015 elections, the previous administration never told the rice farmers this, fearing that they would lose a considerable amount of votes since rice farmers have always voted for the PPP. After the coalition won the elections there was a vacuum in terms of markets.
The previous administration received full payment for all rice and paddy supplied after the oil debt was deducted, but the money wasn’t paid over to the millers and farmers, and as such the farmers and millers were owed crop after crop for their paddy and rice. The new government had to bail out the millers and farmers twice in one year and still the money received did not filter down to the farmers; some rice farmers are still owed millions of dollars for their produce.
No one can blame this government for the state of the rice and sugar industries in the face of inheriting a damaged economy, poor physical infrastructure in the industry and having to cope with the El Niño phenomenon.
The question is what will the government do in the long term with the political situation, the ethnic problematic? The opposition will do everything to undermine confidence in the government and to generate fear in the rice and sugar workers. The truth is the economy is slowing down as a result of both external and internal factors. The country is faced with price drops for key exports, projected production and revenue shortfalls due to natural disasters emanating from El Niño weather conditions. And the government still has a political El Niño to tackle.
Let me now return my attention to Region Two, where it is reported that farmers are harvesting an average of 45 bags per acre with no paddy bug infestation at the moment. They are optimistic that overall a bumper crop will result. Some 25,500 acres are expected to be harvested without any difficulty in this region. In mid-January 2016, 35,500 acres were prepared by plough; lack of rainfall and irrigation water had prevented the rest of the acreage being sown.
It is relatively a small crop considering that only 25,500 acres were sown, but with such a reduced crop, signs are pointing in the direction of increased competition for farmers’ paddy and later in the reaping stages, an increase in price may occur from the $2,300 being offered for grades A, B, C. There is a big question here: how can the millers pay the farmers the same price for grades A, B, and C when the grading factors are different? Something doesn’t add up here and GRDB needs to intervene. After all, the same grades of paddy are making the same high quality of rice.
Factors for grade requirements should be in accordance with values. Moisture content A, B, C 14.0 %; damaged kernels, single or combined A-2.0, B-2.5, C-3.5; red kernels A-2.5, B-3.5, C-5.5; heat and damaged kernels A-0.2 B-0.6 C-1.5; green kernels A-3.0, B-4.0, C- 6.0; chalky kernels A-3.0, B-4.0, C-6.0; milling yield A-50.0, B-45.0, C-40.0; total milled yield A-67.0, B-65.0, C-63.0.
This can be said to be exploitation by the millers. The GRDB which is a government entity needs to look into this matter urgently; after all, farmers are always the losers and there are many instances where farmers and small producers are exploited to the extent of going out of business.
Yours faithfully,
Mohamed Khan
