Mahaicony River farmers decry “unfair grading by rice millers”

Several rice farmers at Mahaicony, Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), have vented their concern about the manner in which their paddy is being graded at the rice mills in the area.
The farmers believe that their paddy is being graded lower than their produce. As such, the aggrieved farmers raised this concern with Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha during his visit to Mora Point, Mahaicony River.
The rice farmers called for better representation for the farmers at mills throughout the region while noting that it is the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) that is supposed to be representing them.
“I don’t think these persons are doing the right job. They are not representing the farmers. Farmers are being bullied by the millers. The people there are not looking after the interest of the farmers,” a farmer stated.
On this note, the Minister stated that he had directed the Rice Producers Association (RPA) to engage farmers in order to select an individual that would be trained and paid by the GRDB to work at the mill to ensure farmers receive correct grades for their paddy.
He urged the farmers to work along with the region and submit the name of the chosen one to the GRDB so that the training can commence.
“Farmers are very important to us and we want to ensure that you have persons there to represent your interest. We might have to train about three persons or even more so that you can have two persons at every mill,” he said.
During the engagement, a number of issues were raised such as drainage and irrigation, deplorable access roads and dams along with issues that fall under other Ministries.
However, another farmer of Yarrow Creek related that there is an urgent need for the main canal in the area to be cleared while noting that the May-June rainy season is fast approaching.
“We are currently boosting the system with pumps because our drainage system wasn’t designed to take off the amount of water we often see during the rainy season or when there is persistent rainfall,” the Minister stated in response to the issue raised.
However, with harvesting currently taking place, farmers are more interested in access to dams in order to get their paddy from the fields. The Minister promised that all the issues will be addressed.