Region 2 rice farmers protest for better paddy prices

Scores of rice farmers on the Essequibo Coast, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) staged a picketing exercise at the Anna Regina High Bridge on Tuesday, calling for better prices for their paddy. This comes days after farmers in Region Six took to the streets, also calling for millers to pay more per tonnage for paddy.

During the protest in the Cinderella County, protesters carried placards with various slogans and messages including “Millers can pay better price for paddy”, “Is this the Dubai that the President promises the Guyanese people”, “We need better prices for our produce”, “Farmers need to have number one priority in the country, we need to survive also.”

One of the farmers on the protest line related that his crop is being harvested and as such, he is expecting that the Rice Producers Association (RPA) and the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) will ensure that fair prices are offered.
The rice farmers protesting in the township of Anna Regina are demanding that the price for paddy return to what it was.
“They offering $3400 for a bag of paddy then check the price for fertiliser raised from $5000 to $10,600 per bag and now the rice millers want to pay us lil and nothing for our products… The price for everything needed to grow and harvest our crop has skyrocketed also…This won’t pay off,” another rice farmer said during an interview with Guyana Times.
Meanwhile, during the protest, Local Government and Regional Development Minister Nigel Dharamlall spoke with the rice farmers, assuring them that Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha will visit the region to address the concerns of the farmers.
He added that the Government of Guyana through the Ministry of Agriculture will do everything in its capacity to reduce the cost of production in the rice industry.
Meanwhile, the farmers told this publication that they will continue to protest until they receive a better price for a bag of paddy.