GIVEN a favourable price, Guyana can export some 150,000 tons of rice and paddy, duty-free, to Mexico before the end of December this year, the Ministry of Agriculture has said.
Rice and paddy consumption in Mexico exceeds one million tons per year, and according to the Agriculture Ministry, Mexico imports more than 80 per cent of the grains.
According to the ministry, just March 1, 2017, the Mexican government gazetted the authorisation to import 150,000 tons of rice and paddy, duty-free from Guyana before the end of December 2017.
Guyana has taken aim at the Mexican rice market since 2015, when Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo visited that country and made robust representation for Guyana’s rice exporters, following the collapse of the Venezuelan market.
Since then, several steps have been taken to ready rice exporters to tap into the Mexican market, and recently, a business delegation of grain producers and exporters from Guyana participated in what was dubbed the largest trade fair for food retailers in Latin America and the Caribbean.
According to a Ministry of Agriculture release, joint efforts by the Mexican Embassy here and the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) saw the Guyana team having access to the highly anticipated Expo ANTAD 2017.
This event drew more than 50,000 visitors from 40 countries around the world to the Expo Guadalajara facilities in Mexico, providing significant new opportunities to tap into the Mexican market and other destinations.

A DEDICATED BOOTH
The MOA has said that GRDB representatives manned a dedicated booth, which displayed samples of Guyanese produce and provided information about the rice and paddy sector in Guyana to professional purchasers. Additionally, contacts which were established even prior to the trade fair, made it possible for the Guyanese delegation to have business meetings with entities such as Oxxo, which has the largest chain of convenience stores in Mexico, and manages an average of 14,000 locations.
“The Guyana team also met with representatives from Commercial Mexicana and Soriana,” the release said, adding: “These are some of the leading brands in food retailing in Mexico; they operate in excess of 650 supermarkets in more than 200 cities.”
Additionally, in order to further expand business contacts, GRDB representatives and other Guyanese exporters visited Verde Valle, the largest rice packaging plant in Western Mexico. Business conversations were also had with the senior leadership of the Mexican Rice Council, which is the single largest association of rice and paddy importers in Mexico. Beyond Mexico, the Guyanese business delegation was also able to established contacts with rice traders in Central American countries such as Nicaragua and Panamá. “Phytosanitary procedures and business contacts for Guyanese rice and paddy made significant progress as a result of the official visit by Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo to Mexico in October 2015,” the Agriculture Ministry said.

PRODUCTION TO SOAR
Meanwhile, Extension Manager of GRDB, Kuldip Ragnauth has announced that rice production will be higher this year. “I like to let the figures speak for themselves. We have already seen an increase in acres sown when compared to last year. So far we have recorded 225,000 acres as opposed to 180,000 acres for the same period of last year. As a matter of fact, we had projected 210,000 acres to be sown for this crop, looking back at the weather impact on the spring crop for this year and last year,” Ragnauth was quoted in a ministry release as saying. He said although the general sowing period was delayed due to El Nino, the Rice Board still projected an increased in figures due to the number of farmers who returned to the lands. “Nutrition is a very important key when looking at yields. Farmers are encouraged to employ best practices, not only during the sowing process but during the harvesting process as well. We also encourage farmers to cultivate using the 6-point system as this has shown remarkable benefits as it relates to increased yields. Even though farmers would have experienced losses last year, the figures have shown that they were able to rebound well as it relates to sowing.” Ragnauth added. Ragnauth also indicated that general low performing areas have seen increases in their production over the years.

RED RICE AND PADDY BUG
On the issue of pest, Ragnauth said instances of Red Rice and Paddy Bug infestation have significantly reduced when compared to last year during the same period. He said red rice and paddy bug infestation are known factors of diminishing yields. This, in turn, would not reflect the achievement of the plot. As a result, the research arm of the agency is continuously working to develop new and innovative ways to address this issue, the GRDB official stated.  “If paddy bug and Red Rice are present, this will definitely affect the outcome of the 6-points. We’ve started a while ago to develop new and innovative ways of addressing Red Rice and Paddy Bug. Once this can be addressed and we can help the farmers with a better level of control in the field, this will help to reduce the cost and increase the productivity of the plot.” Mr. Ragnauth said.

AGRICULTURE AS A BUSINESS
Ragnauth also said that the Board, in keeping with the trends and advances in the sector, have recognised the need to treat rice production as a viable and sustainable business. As a result, GRDB, through its extension services and field schools, educates farmers on the economic aspect of rice production by putting systems in place to educate farmers on the importance of production cost when compared to market prices. He said farmers are also able to determine the different parameters that contribute to their production cost, yield and income generation.
“We have started exposing farmers to financial management to some extent, where we look at the cost of production. In fact, I’m sure if you ask a farmer the cost of producing for a bag of paddy he would be able to arrive at a price as opposed to years ago, where farmers were unable to arrive at those figures… We also have practical exercises for the farmers at the field schools where we try to keep it simple for the farmers. They know the prices they are paid at the mills so they would want to relate it to the cost to produce a bag of paddy,” he said.
Despite the challenges plaguing the industry, the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) has been employing new and innovative ways to ensure that the industry continues to progress. To this end, the Burma Rice Research Station continues to advance the cause by making available new lines of rice strands, which are not only blast resistant, but tolerable to flood and drought.
Such Innovation in research conducted by the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) has seen rice yields moving from 1.7 tonnes per hectare in the 1960s to over 5 tonnes per hectare in 2016.
“In fact, this is as a result of the number of research the Rice Board conducts annual…among the many areas, enhanced focus is placed along the line of  Plant Breeding, Agronomy, Entomology and Plant Pathology. These disciplines have seen the release of over five new varieties of rice, among them the aromatic strain, for commercial cultivation purposes all across the country,” the Extension Manager said. Guyana’s rice industry has grown to such an extent that it now rates as the second most important agricultural industry, which enjoys the application of modern technology and years of research and technology transfer.