Farmers receiving higher prices for this rice crop
Stabroek News
September 23, 2002
Rice farmers in Regions Four, Five and Six are at present enjoying an increase in the paddy prices paid by two major rice millers who supply the European market and are in stiff competition to meet their quotas.
The rice millers who are also exporters, have contracts with European companies to supply a certain quota of cargo rice for this crop. However, this is not the only factor which has caused an increase in the price of paddy; also affecting the returns for farmers is the significant reduction in the number of hectares planted for this current crop partly as a consequence of flooding.
The fact that American-owned Grains Jamaica, which is located in Kingston Jamai-ca and imports American rice into that island, is currently not in operation has redounded to Guyana's advantage. According to General Secre-tary of the Guyana Rice Pro-ducers Association (GRPA) Dharamkumar Seeraj, Guy-ana has been exporting rice to that country at an increased price of US$300 per tonne.
Speaking to Stabroek News last week, Seeraj confirmed that for the last crop, millers were paying between $800-1300 per bag for grades A,B and C paddy, but at present the prices had moved up to $1000-1400. Seeraj told this newspaper that harvesting was currently underway in all the rice-growing regions and that the quality of paddy being produced was better than the previous crop. The quality of the last paddy crop had been affected by an infestation of paddy bug, which was the single most destructive pest for rice plants.
The GRPA general secretary explained that earlier during this present crop the problem had been detected, and as such a joint pest management training programme for farmers had been mounted by GRPA and the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB). Twenty-eight training seminars had been held so far throughout the rice farming regions and subsidised chemicals for the control of paddy bug had been provided by the GRPA and GRDB. In addition, better extension services had helped improve quality in this crop.
He said that in Regions Five and Six, where planting had taken place later than the other regions due to floods at the beginning of the crop, only a small amount of harvesting had been completed - about 1,700 hectares out of a maximum of 10,200 hectares. The two regions had been the most productive over the years and produced by far the highest yields in any crop. Last crop, however, out of a target of 27,530 hectares of rice planted only 14,000 had been sold in Region Five, while out of target of 17,500 planted in Region Six only 10,000 had been sold.
The situation, Seeraj said, had created a competitive atmosphere in the two regions and some millers had opted to pay more for the paddy so as to encourage the farmers to take their paddy to them. While the GRPA was pleased with the returns the farmers were enjoying at present, Seeraj acknowledged that the situation did not help those farmers who were quality conscious. The millers who were mostly concerned about reaching their quota target so as to avoid fines, were paying the same price for grades A,B and C paddy. He said that it was not fair to farmers who spent quality time on their farm to be earning the same returns as those who did the opposite.
The GRPA general secretary also observed that in Region Two where competition was not as intense among farmers, prices for paddy ranged from $800-1300. He attributed the lack of competition in that region to the fact that two of the largest rice mills had been out of operation for this autumn crop.
Speaking about some of the challenges facing the rice industry, Seeraj disclosed that there was need for better drainage in the two key rice producing regions, five and six. He said that Region Six was capable of producing 20 per cent of the country's national output, while Region Five had the capacity to produce 40 per cent. He acknowledged that if these targets were to be reached then improved drainage and irrigation, the building of access dams and other infrastructural, technical works needed to be done. Moreover, Seeraj said that there was a greater need now for the government to support farmers in a tangible way to help the industry move forward.
At present 33 per cent of the harvesting had been completed and the general secretary was optimistic that once the weather held the harvesting of the entire crop would be completed by mid-October. This current crop which is referred to as the autumn crop began in August and is expected to end in October.