per bag of paddy

Following a meeting facilitated by President Irfaan Ali at State House with representatives of the Guyana Millers and Exporters Association (GREMA) and the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) at State House, it was agreed that the sales commission paid by millers and exporters for rice, byproducts of rice and paddy is reduced to zero for the first crop of 2023 and that all millers will purchase farmers' paddy for the first crop of 2023 at a minimum of$4000perbag.

Theagreementwasmade andsignedinthepresenceof Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo and Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha In February, Minister Mustapha met with rice farmers from Regions Two, Three, Five, and Six to discuss some of the issues facedintheindustry

Among the issues raised by the farmers is the price paid for paddy from millers. The farmers had requested an across-the-board price for paddyfrommillers.

In response to the requests made by the f a r m e r s , M u s t a p h a committed to “continue to engage the millers on prices but I cannot promise an across-the-board price for paddy For instance, in Region Two, the price to transportwillbemorethanin Region Five so in order for millers to earn they take t h o s e f a c t o r s i n t o consideration. You know for a fact last year we were able to negotiate with millers from Region Two for better prices for farmers and now you are getting up to $4,000 per bag,” Minister Mustapha explained.