Home News Govt to inject $2.7B to help farmers amid falling rice prices –...
Government is likely to spend approximately $2.7 billion to cushion the impact of falling prices on local rice farmers, according to Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha.
Rice prices on the world market continue to show a downward trend, and millers everywhere are 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.
Addressing farmers on Tuesday at Number 48 Village, Corentyne, Mustapha detailed how Government’s intervention has made possible this price arrangement for farmers.
“Some of them were offering $3500, some of them $3400, but the maximum was $3680. We worked with them to establish a price range of $3700. So, for us to get the price at $4000, the Government had to step in again. So, this crop, the farmers will not get below $4000. When you do the calculation, if we reap 804,000 tons — and with the yield that we are getting now, the minimum we would reap is nine million bags of paddy…You do the math,” Mustapha advised.
Some $2.7 billion would be involved.
Mustapha explained that the current trend of falling rice prices on the world market presents a complex picture, with varying impacts being registered across different regions. While decreasing prices can offer relief to consumers, particularly in import-dependent nations, they pose challenges for rice-producing economies.
He detailed that factors causing the current drop in prices include increased supply; the arrival of new crops from major Asian exporters, resulting in an oversupply; improved yields; changes in the import plans of major importing countries; and the stabilization of fertilizer prices.
Mustapha explained that the rice sector in Guyana has seen tremendous growth last year, in that a record 725,000 tonnes of rice was produced locally. This crop, with more acreage under rice cultivation, production is estimated at 804,000 tonnes of rice.
