Govt announces over $2.7B in measures to support local productivity in agri-sectors

– $2.7B support for rice farmers; fisherfolk to see $150,000 subsidy

Guyana’s Government will soon be rolling out a slew of measures targeting major agriculture players, especially rice farmers and fisherfolk, as part of efforts to support productivity.
President Dr Irfaan Ali made this announcement on Wednesday during an interview in Brazil, where he travelled to earlier in the day, ahead of next week’s COP30.
Among the measures the Guyanese leader announced is a $150,000 subsidy to local fisherfolk.
“We’re going to give $150,000 to every fisherfolk out there to help them as an incentive [and] a subsidy from the Government,” the Head of State noted.
Moreover, the Guyana Government is also looking at removing taxes on key fishing inputs like the seine material, capital equipment, and fuel, the president disclosed.
This latest initiative builds on a series of Government interventions in the fisheries sector over the last few years. In 2022, over $1.1 billion in cash grants were paid out to more than 7500 fisherfolk across Guyana.
Additionally, the Government has also been upgrading landing and processing facilities, providing training, and promoting sustainable and climate-resilient fishing practices.
Agriculture is a major anchor of Guyana’s non-oil economy and continues to perform well. This was reflected in the 2025 Mid-Year Report, where the Finance Ministry revealed that the agriculture, fishing, and forestry sector grew by nine per cent in the first half of the year.
But despite growth in marine fish production and aquaculture output, lower output of marine shrimp resulted in the fishing subsector contracting by an estimated 1.9 per cent during the reporting period.
With respect to marine production, it was noted that fish output grew by 16.1 per cent when compared with the first half of 2024, reaching 11,404 tonnes at the end of June this year. Marine shrimp production, however, fell by 42.4 per cent to 5520 tonnes on account of lower production of industrial seabob shrimp and prawns, which fell by 87 per cent and 58.6 per cent, respectively.
According to the ministry, the lower-than-anticipated production of shrimp is the result of low fleet activity, compounded by low catch rates. In light of this, the report stated that the outlook for this subsector has been revised and is now estimated to grow by 2.1 per cent at year-end.

Rice support
Similarly, the Finance Ministry reported that the rice industry grew by an estimated 13.9 per cent in the first half of this year amid a global decline in rice prices.
According to President Ali, his Government has continuously supported rice farmers over the last five years and will continue to do so. In fact, he announced during Wednesday’s interview an injection of a whopping $2.7 billion into the rice industry for the second crop this year.
In the first crop, the Guyana Government provided a subsidy to rice farmers of a minimum of $300 per bag of paddy to help cushion the impact of falling prices on the global market – an injection of almost $1.9 million.
Apart from this, a rice farmer with an average 15-acre field also benefited from more than $400,000 in Government support for fertiliser, transportation and agrochemicals.
“As I said a few months ago, we will examine the prevailing condition, and we will take necessary steps to intervene… We will produce in this second crop more than nine million bags of paddy… And at a minimum, I can say to you now that we’re going to give, like we did in the first crop, another $300 per bag subsidy. That will be an injection of more than $2.7 billion to our rice farmers, and that is outside of the help [of $400,000]…that they will get for every 15-acre plot when you calculate it,” the President declared.
The Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) reported, according to the 2025 Mid-Year Report, a production of 410,194 tonnes of rice equivalent in the first six months of this year, compared with 362,030 tonnes in the first half of 2024.
On account of favourable weather conditions, the yield achieved for the first crop of 2025 was 6.6 tonnes per hectare, aligned with what was achieved in the first crop of last year.
The production target for the full year remains 804,000 tonnes of rice equivalent, with a growth target of 12.4 per cent, buttressed by continued support to farmers and renewed efforts to secure new and more attractive markets.
The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration has played a major role in strengthening the rice industry, resulting in an impressive output of more than 725,000 tonnes in 2024. In addition, a $2 billion investment was also made in 2025 to subsidise fertilisers for thousands of farmers across the country.