232,000 acres of rice cultivated in 2025 first crop – Mustapha

…as 9M bags of paddy targeted for current crop

The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government’s support to the rice sector continues, with as many as 232,000 acres of rice cultivated in this year’s first crop amid plans by the Government to construct a drying facility for rice farmers in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam).

During a recent visit to Region Two, where he met with rice farmers at the Anna Regina Secondary School, Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha referenced the rice that has already been cultivated, the emphasis on increasing yield, and also spoke of this support being provided to rice farmers.
“Although you have the World Market price, every bag of paddy sold to the millers, we are contributing $300. If we are correct, we’ll have nine million bags of paddy for this crop, because 232,000 acres of rice were cultivated for the first crop of 2025.”
“Now, we had a situation on the Essequibo coast where some regular buyers did not purchase paddy. And that put a strain on the coast. And that is why we are looking seriously, to design a project on the coast, where we can have dry facilities so farmers can have access,” Mustapha also said.

According to Mustapha, a system can be developed that will allow a group or consortium of farmers to utilise this drying facility, which the Government will build for the farmers on the Essequibo coast. The Agriculture Minister further noted that this facility could potentially hold 500,000 bags of paddy at any given time.
“We understand the frustration farmers are facing due to this surplus. Our goal is to ensure you get the maximum value for your paddy and have the infrastructure in place to support future harvests, including drying facilities that may be either Government or privately operated with state support.”
“Thanks to the intervention of Vice President (VP) Jagdeo, we’ve already seen significant progress. Several millers have stepped up to increase their purchase volumes, and that’s helping to move things in the right direction,” the Minister added.
Last month, it had been announced that the Government is likely to spend approximately $2.7 billion to cushion the impact of falling prices on local rice farmers. This announcement came amid falling rice prices on the world market.
Added to this was the situation whereby millers were cutting back on the amount of money they can offer farmers for a bag of paddy. In Guyana, the situation is no different. However, the Government of Guyana has stepped in to offer assistance to rice farmers. Through negotiations with millers, the Government of Guyana has been able to arrange for rice farmers to receive no less than $4000 for a 143-pound bag of paddy.
President of the Rice Producers Association (RPA) Leeka Rambrich, had meanwhile also urged rice farmers to pay careful attention to their investments, noting that there is need for those farmers to seek maximum output from minimum investment.
During his budget presentation in January, Mustapha had revealed that the Government’s 2025 target for the rice sector is more 804,000 tonnes. He had also revealed that at that time in the Mahaica Mahaicony Abary (MMA) scheme in Region Five (Mahaica/Berbice), over 100,000 acres of rice had been planted.
Guyana’s rice sector broke records last year, with Minister Mustapha revealing at his end of year press conference that 725,282 tonnes of rice was produced in 2024. The increased overall production also came with an increased average national yield of over 6 tonnes per hectare.
Also last year, the Agriculture Ministry secured a massive achievement when it was able to hand over to 29 farmers and 9 millers in Region Two, $437 million in money owed to them from rice exported to the Panama market over six years ago.
This payment formed part of the $1.5 billion recovered by the PPP/C Government to compensate farmers and millers affected by a flawed arrangement initiated in 2018 under the previous A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Administration.