GEORGETOWN, Guyana – Guyana will on Friday turn the sod for the construction of the country’s first climate-controlled rice storage hub with the first phase expected to cost an estimated one billion dollars.
Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha inspecting a rice field recently (File Photo)Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha said the facility will be built at Onderneeming, along the Essequibo Coast in Region Two and that an estimated 2,000 rice farmers will benefit from the initiative, which seeks to strengthen storage capacity, improve post-harvest management and support the rice industry’s growth.
He said the investment follows the government’s 2026 budget commitment to increase rice-storage capacity through climate-controlled silos over the next five years and that the facility will be a game changer for farmers, especially since paddy prices are usually very low in Essequibo.
The new facility is expected to provide an intended 10,000 tonnes of storage capacity to help farmers store paddy until they can get a better offer for their produce.
Mustapha noted also that with the recent launch of the Guyana Development Bank (GDB) it will allow rice farmers to access loans that no longer make them indebted to millers.
“These soft loans coming out of the Guyana Development Bank, instead of going to the miller to take these inputs, they will have a small loan like one million, GUY$1.5 million without any collateral, without any interest.”
