The demise of several rice mills in recent months has left farmers with few options as to where and at what price they can sell their paddy.

This according to a farmers’ representative had been the trend for the past 18 months and there seems to be no improvement. “When they are not paying the farmers with post-dated cheques, they are holding up their payments for several weeks and giving flimsy excuses.”

But a source close to the Guyana Rice Millers and Exporters Development Association (GREMDA) says the millers have also hit hard times. “I know of some large millers who had to close down their businesses because they cannot meet their commitment to the banks and are not making any profit,” the source said.

Only last week some of the farmers were forced to picket one large rice mill because of its unreliable system of payments. Most farmers usually sell their paddy on credit to the millers who would promise payments within three weeks. However, this period is often extended to three or four months without any proper explanation given to the farmers.

Alesie Group of Companies had told this newspaper that it would usually pay farmers after it had exported and received payments for the rice. But this was taking too long for the farmers.

The situation has been compounded with the closure of a number of mills.

An official of the Alesie Rice, said its mills countrywide had stopped purchasing paddy briefly last week to iron out some issues with farmers. Those issues, the official said, were somewhat resolved and they were buying paddy as usual again.

Alesie had agreed with some West Coast Demerara farmers last week that commencing from last Friday they would have begun receiving cheques for paddy sold to the company for this crop. This was not so when this newspaper checked with the firm yesterday. Nevertheless, farmers across the country continue to sell their paddy to the firm.

“They don’t have a choice, where are they going to carry the paddy?” the farmers’ representative said.

Meanwhile, in Essequibo some six mills have been closed, one of them belonging to Ivor Allen. Sources close to the Allen Enterprises Ltd told this newspaper yesterday that the mill was forced to close down since 2001.

Allen, who is also a rice farmer, has been planting rice and milling it himself. Stabroek News was told that five other millers in Essequibo were doing the same.

A farmer on the Essequibo Coast said the two main mills actually purchasing paddy were Caricom and Jaibeni rice mills. These mills, according to the farmer, have been up to date with their payments. The farmer added that even though for this crop they were expecting better prices they could not complain about the manner in which they were being paid.

Some 90% of the rice cultivated in Essequibo has been harvested and farmers have been receiving at most $1,250 per bag. The farmer said yields per hectare were not excellent neither was the quality of the paddy. The farmer noted that the average grade was ‘C’ which could only earn at most $1,250. He mentioned that crops were briefly threatened by the paddy bugs but this did not impact much on yields.

An official at Kayman Sankar and Company Ltd said since harvesting began the company had not at any time stopped purchasing paddy from farmers.

The official noted that unlike other millers, Kayman Sankar had been paying its customers on time and had not experienced any problems with the farmers. The company was also paying $1,250 per bag.

Other millers like A. Hack and Sons Rice Milling Complex at Harlem West Coast Demerara and Nand Persaud and Company Ltd in Corentyne, were up to yesterday still buying paddy, even though the latter was purchasing at a slow rate due to cash- flow problems.