Govt eyeing markets in Middle East for rice export – Pres Ali

– working with farmers to optimise operations, increase profits

Amid a surplus of production due to the increase in rice yields, the Guyana Government is exploring new global markets, including in the Middle East, to export the country’s rice.

This was revealed by President Dr Irfaan Ali on Sunday during an engagement with farmers and residents at Hague Back, West Coast Demerara.
“We are now working to see how we can get new rice markets, working with leaders in the Middle East,” the Head of State indicated.
Only last week, government, through the Ministry of Agriculture and the Guyana Rice Development (GRDB), came to an agreement with local rice millers that will see rice farmers receiving no less than $4,000 for a bag of paddy for the first crop of 2025.
This was after rice farmers had protested the previous low price that millers were offering for paddy at a time when there is an oversupply of rice in the local market.
Following intense negotiations led by President Ali, the agreement was inked on Tuesday last.
According to the Guyanese leader during Sunday’s engagement, government will have to transfer billions of dollars to ensure that rice farmers benefit from this deal. In fact, he noted that this has been a hallmark of his administration since it entered office in 2020 whereby billions have been injected into the rice industry, which was largely abandoned and neglected by the previous government.
With initiatives such as the removal of value added tax (VAT) on machinery, agrochemicals, fertilisers and pesticides, over $1.8 billion has been allocated to help rice farmers from 2022 to 2024. Another $2 billion will be distributed to these farmers as fertiliser subsidy this year.
In addition, government has also accessed new markets in Latvia, Hungary, British Virgin Islands, Slovenia, Estonia, Lebanon, Angola and Sierra Leone.
Guyana produced a record-breaking 725,282 metric tonnes of rice in 2024, largely due to the introduction of new rice varieties over the past four years. This year, the local rice industry is projected to grow by 12.4 per cent growth with a production target of 804,000 metric tonnes.
However, rice prices have been falling on the world market and is predicted to fall even lower this year.
President Ali pointed out that while no one has control over the world market prices, the People’s Progress Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government has been making the necessary investments to cushion the decline in global prices – something which is reflective of party’s longstanding commitment to the sector, farmers and agriculture as a whole.
“Every time the People’s Progressive Party/Civic is in Govt, we are the ones who fight on behalf of all of you. And we don’t need people to celebrate us because that is who we are. This is what makes us a party of difference. This is what the PPP is about – fighting for the vulnerable, fighting for the farmers,” he stressed.

Optimization
Meanwhile, with the oversupply of rice in the local market, the government had previously stated that several options are being considered to address this situation.

In addition to new markets to absorb the increasing yields, they are also looking to push more domestic use of locally-produced rice.
According to President Ali, venturing out into value-added products is key.
“We also have to invest more here so that we have more value-added production from the rice. With the cost of electricity coming down, we have to have more rice-based products – cereals and all of these things… More investments in breweries [are] coming into the country also. All of this would add to increase local consumption because we want production to expand, production to get to a million tonnes and we’re also working to ensuring that your input cost comes down so that your profitability would be greater,” he noted.
Only recently, President of the Rice Producers Association (RPA), Leeka Rambrich, called on rice farmers to start mechanizing their operations and maximise output from minimum investment especially with the declining prices on the global market.
During Sunday’s engagement, the Head of State highlighted local farmers, especially in the rice industry, are often overcapitalizing thus resulting in higher cost of production. For instance, he explained that one combined is generally designed to work a 100-acre land, even higher, but in Guyana, farmers have as much as five combines for just 100 acres of land.
“What happens [there is that] you’re not getting optimal use of the combine and you’re increasing the cost of production because you have to find fuel for five combines when you can use one combine to do the job on 100 acres of land.”
“That is something we’ve found, where farmers are over capitalising. When you need two tractors for a 100-acre land, everybody with a five-acre land wants their own tractor [and] everybody with a 10-acre land want their own tractor with combine. And that is not a feasible way of doing things…”
According to the President, he has already instructed the Ministries of Finance and Agriculture to engage rice farmers on this. “We have to find a way in which we have these conversations to help you to build the optimal business model… And for that to happen, you have to come together.”
The Guyanese leader told the WCD rice farmers that if those with smaller acreages come together and pool their land, then government would provide the machinery such as tractors and combines to support them, thus removing the need for them to invest capital on their own.
President Ali also spoke of his government’s plans to set up a fertilizer plant which will be supported by the model Gas-to-Energy (GtE) Project, which is set to slash electricity prices by half utilizing the rich natural gas that will be piped to the Wales, West Bank Demerara, site from the Stabroek Block, offshore Guyana.
“Even if the government has to support this, we will but we want the local private sector also to be part of it [so] we’re going to invest in a fertilizer plant so that we’ll bring down the cost of fertilizer for the farmers…”
“You’ll get cheaper fertilizer made right here in Guyana… and not only access to fertilizer but I said to the Ministry of Agriculture in that plan, we must be able to develop fertilizer that best suit our own conditions so that we will have higher productivity, higher yield… The agrochemical plant, as a result of the investment, will come by 2027. Once we are in government, you will see those things… “So, your best days are ahead of you,” the President told the farmers.