GEORGETOWN, Guyana – Agriculture Minister , Zulfikar Mustapha, has agreed to meet with rice farmers and millers as harvesting of the second rice crop amid concerns from stakeholders regarding the price being offered by millers for each bag of paddy being sold to them.
Agriculture Minister , Zulfikar Mustapha.A government statement said that Mustapha, who will be accompanied by senior officials from the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), will be consulting with rice farmers and millers across the rice-growing regions during the course of this week.
“These engagements are part of the Ministry’s continued efforts to promote open dialogue and collaboration with stakeholders in the rice industry. The meetings will focus on matters related to the current crop.
“The Ministry remains committed to working closely with all stakeholders in the rice industry to support a successful and productive crop, and to advance the government’s broader food security agenda,” it added.
Last Friday, two mills announced that they would be offering GUY$2,00 (One Guyana dollar=US$0.004cents) for a bag of rice.
But the farmers note the price is less than the GUY$3700 offered by millers’ last crop, to which the government added a further GUY$300 for each bag of paddy produced and sold to the mills.
But observers here note that the recent drop in world rice prices has directly translated into lower prices being paid to local rice farmers for their paddy, with the millers citing global market trends as prices have declines from over US$700 per ton to as low as US$420.
The price of operational costs including fuel, fertilizer, and labor remain high and the farmers say the price of GUY$2,800 is not productive.
