Essequibo, says Deleep Singh, who has been President of the regional Chamber of Commerce since 2016, has adjusted reasonably quickly to its rice industry’s loss of Venezuela’s PetroCaribe market. He believes that what had been, for a protracted period, easy access to a huge market may have lulled the farmers into a false sense of security, even in some instances, complacency. “The loss of that market came as a shock to the farmers,” he says.
All that, however has had to change. Adversity has brought about adjustment. The farmers are persisting with rice but they are seeking ways of reducing cultivation costs. There is even evidence of greater mechanized farming. The Chamber President feels that the rice farmers’ failure to diversify in times when rice was more lucrative was part of the problem. But part of the turnaround has included a change from the condition where the payment for paddy given on credit to the millers had become a problem. Payments have been forthcoming and the farmers have been able to make some headway in beginning to settle some of their considerable debts. The commercial banks, Singh says, have been patient with the farmers and that has helped them to structure their debt repayments.
More than that, there has been some measure of diversification. More rice farmers are now pursuing cash crop farming though he hastens to add that the rice industry is by no means on the wane. More than 35,000 acres are still being cultivated on the coast.
