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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday March 23, 2015
Rice harvesting underway, all farmers paid in full By Vanessa Narine
HARVESTING of the spring crop, the first rice crop of 2015, is progressing apace, with some 10 per cent of the 240,000 acres under cultivation already completed. Deputy General Manager of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), Ricky Ramraj, in a telephone interview yesterday told the Guyana Chronicle that the yield is approximately six tonnes of rice per hectare. “The weather has been favourable, so harvesting is going well,” he said. Asked about prices being offered to rice farmers, he noted that the average stands at $3,000 per bag of paddy. “This is around the same average we had for the last crop in 2014,” Ramraj said. The GRDB Deputy General Manager also assured that all the outstanding payments for last crop sales have been settled. “One of the internal mechanisms we used to ensure that full payments were completed was to insist that all payments were made before rice millers could qualify as suppliers for the Venezuelan market,” he said. Ramraj noted that this approach met with success and no farmers are owed. SHIPMENTS THIS WEEK On the issue of the Venezuela market, GRDB Deputy General Manager disclosed that shipments are expected to begin this week. “We have an agreement for 120,000 tonnes of paddy and 74,000 tonnes of rice,” he said. Having signed contracts with Venezuelan authorities, the Ministry of Agriculture and the GRDB completed arrangements with Venezuelan authorities relating to shipping schedules, earlier this month. However, shipping is to start soon depending on availability of ships.
Guyana and Venezuela have also agreed for the procurement of 14,000 tons of fertiliser for 2015. “This year we increased the procurement of fertiliser from Venezuela. We used to have 7,000 tonnes, but the new arrangement will see that number doubling to 14,000 tonnes, with 7,000 tonnes per crop,” Ramraj said. CONTRACTS WITH PANAMA Also, arrangements are being concluded for the 2015 contracts with Panama. The two countries recently concluded arrangements to fast track payments. The financial accountability process of Panama involved Guyana making changes in sales were invoiced and after negotiations this issue was reconciled with that of Guyana’s to facilitate faster payments. On the issue of other new markets, Agriculture Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, has met with Ministers of Agriculture from several African countries to negotiate sales of rice amounting to more than 200,000 tonnes. The arrangements for 2015 shipments to these new markets, as well as for Panama, are expected to be concluded. “In the meantime, our regular markets are supplied,” he said. The export target for 2015 has been set at 521,000 tonnes. Guyana currently has export agreements with several countries in the Caribbean. Also, given the continuous success of the rice industry, efforts are being made to secure a greater foothold in Nicaragua and other Central American countries, including Belize. BROUGHT FORWARD STOCK In order for this to happen, 150,000 tonnes of rice from the last crop in 2014 was brought forward to 2015 to service existing markets. “This has been exhausted,” Ramraj
said. According to him, the brought forward stocks – a routine practice – allows Guyana to be able to make exports from January to March, while rice is being planted. “The stock we bring forward is for the export market and for local consumption,” he said. The target for rice production is 618,000 tonnes. Last year was another record-breaking year for the rice indus-
try. Production was recorded at 635,238 tonnes, of which 501,208 tonnes were exported. Production in the final crop of 2014 surpassed that of the first crop, which recorded just over 300,000 tonnes. The rice and sugar sectors remain important to Guyana’s economy, considering its contribution as it relates to employment of locals and contributions to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).