Burma rice mill set for private management
Many mills closed for this crop
By Nigel Williams
Stabroek News
April 22, 2003
The government is currently negotiating with two businessmen to manage the operations of the Mahaicony Abary Rice Development Scheme (MARDS) known as the Burma Rice mill.
The negotiations, according to a source close to the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), are expected to conclude shortly. Recently, the government through the Ministry of Agriculture had advertised for interested persons to apply for the management post.
Stabroek News understands that a few businessmen had applied but only two of them were actually considered and their proposals are being studied at the moment.
According to the source whoever wins the bid would be responsible for the agency’s finances and other administrative duties, but the mill which is owned by the government would remain the property of the government. Moreover, government would retain a skeleton staff and security personnel. The source said, “all that the government would be doing is to rent the mill to mill paddy, so that all of the other facilities at MARDS including 3000 acres of land would remain the property of the government.”
A large rice farmer in Region Five told this newspaper that the move to have the mill run by the private sector was a good one. He said over the years many farmers had depended heavily on the services of the mill but on a number of occasions they had been disappointed. He said it was obvious that the government was not doing well in terms of managing the mill.
Last year the mill was out of operation mainly due to a significant reduction in the acreage planted. General Secretary of the Guyana Rice Producers Association (RPA), Dharamkumar Seeraj told Stabroek News that only 30% of the total available land was cultivated for the last crop, forcing a closure of the mill. Seeraj however observed that based upon the 65,000 hectares planted this crop, the mill could be made operational. Stabroek News understands that a number of mills in Region Five are also out of operation. Among them are the Blairmont Rice Mill owned by Kayman Sankar; Caribbean Rice Limited, located at Strangoen, De Hoop, Mahaica; the Fayuse Hussein Rice Mill; Arnold Kanhai; Arjune and Sons; Charles Nunes; Jacob’s Rice Mill of Mahaicony Branch Road; Desmond Ross Rice Mill of Recess, Mahaicony; Ishmael Aladin, of Washington, Mahaicony; Rohan Oudit of Weldaad; and Kublall of Number 30 Village.
Seeraj added that in Region Six, Daneshwar Rice Mill, one of the largest rice mills in the area has also been closed. In Region Two, several mills have closed their doors. According to Seeraj with the closure of all these mills, an added burden has been placed on the other millers who have not been coping well. He noted that because of the increased acreage planted this crop, coupled with the closure of some of the mills, millers are a bit reluctant to pay reasonable prices for paddy. He observed that many of the mills that are in operation at present have very low intake capacity and limited drying and storage facilities. As such, farmers have been made to wait in long lines before their paddy is purchased. Seeraj stressed that the present situation is very frustrating and has slowed down the rate of harvesting. “It is no use [to] harvest your paddy when you have to wait three and four days before a truckload of paddy is accepted.”
He mentioned that several crops are ready to be harvested but the farmers have been forced to delay harvesting. Moreover, Seeraj told Stabroek News that while the price for rice has gone up somewhat for this crop on the international market, paddy prices have dropped significantly, mainly due to the large supply and limited demand. He recalled seeing farmers waiting in long lines with over 20 trucks lining up at a mill. “I believe when these millers see this long line, they get confused; this is not an easy task to handle.” Seeraj said he is hopeful that when MARDS becomes operational that the problem would be remedied.
Seeraj said “financial difficulties, which include cash flow problems and indebtedness to commercial banks” were responsible for the closure of many of the mills.
He hinted too that poor management and a drop in the prices for rice since 1996 have also contributed to the problem.
Seeraj recalled the days before 1996 when rice was being purchased for over US$400 per tonne, “now it has dropped to more than half” that. He said since that time, some farmers have not been able to repay their debts, forcing them to abandon the rice farming business. He said the few farmers who have remained in the business have shown tremendous courage.
Meanwhile, since harvesting for the spring crop has begun, most of the rice-growing regions have reported good yields. Based upon the amount of paddy harvested so far the average yield per acre across the country is 72 bags per hectare. Seeraj told this newspaper that in Region Four harvesting was almost complete, noting that a total of 8,500 acres had already been reaped. He added that Region Five had recently started, while Region Two and Six were in full swing.
However, despite high yields rice farmers had not been getting the sort of returns they were expecting for their paddy. Seeraj noted that millers were buying paddy at $1200-1300 per bag. He said this had nothing to do with overseas markets.
He noted too that irrigation continued to be the main challenge this crop, adding that the extended dry season had had very adverse effects on some farmers, causing them not to plant their usual acreage. He mentioned that in Crabwood Creek farmers experienced substantial losses because of the dry season.
