…says millers must not form cartels
General Manager of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), Jagnarine Singh, says, based on projections, it is likely that the first crop yield for 2009 of 160,000 tonnes is surpassed, with 40,000 hectares yet to be harvested, even though the weather and the late start to cultivation may present challenges. Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle on Wednesday, Singh said that some 67 percent of the last crop has been harvested, and this comprises 76 percent of the available acreage for harvesting.
“We had some tremendous challenges and the big one was El Nino. In 2009 it was flooding. In 2010 it was dry,” he said. Speaking of the changing of weather extremities, Singh said, “Climate change is on us and it is one of our biggest challenges…[for] us to manage and produce rice based on all these changing circumstances.”
He said that there is also a challenge in competing on a global market where there is more and more trade liberalization around the world. He noted that the European Union is entering into bilateral agreements with many other trading partners and when this happens, although Guyana’s access is not reduced, more and more access is given to other parties, many of whom may be beneficiaries of subsidies, making it more difficult for Guyana to compete.
He said that Guyana has to compete with subsidized rice from the United States and the Far East. He said that what this means is that Guyana must improve its production and productivity. He said that the other big challenge is to find new and strategic markets, such as the arrangement that Guyana has entered into with Venezuela, where government to government arrangements could see a trade of one product to offset the expenses of another product. He said that in the past Guyana would outright trade one product for another.
He said that the sector is at about 132,000 tonnes for the first crop of 2010, and at the corresponding period last year, the tonnage harvested for the first crop was 160,000 tonnes. He said that for the first crop there are 40,000 hectares yet to be harvested. He said that if 30,000 of the 40,000 hectares are harvested successfully, then the sector should match the output for the first crop of 2009. Twenty-five percent of the rice to be harvested comes from Regions 5 and 6.
The weather is still presenting a challenge now that the rains are here, and he noted that the GRDB and other stakeholders in the sector are trying to do everything they can to get the rice from the fields to the mills. He said that some of it may be lost because of late planting.
The GRDB General Manager said that through an arrangement with the Ministry of Agriculture, the GRDB is trying to get punts from the Guyana Sugar Corporation to assist in bringing out the paddy harvested through the canals.
“We are doing everything to try to bring in the crop,” Singh said.
He noted that while there was flooding during the period of rice cultivation for the first crop of 2009, for this year it was the dry season brought about by the El Nino phenomenon that presented a challenge. In terms of land preparation for the new crop, Singh said that 24,000 hectares, or 33 percent of the total of 76,000 hectares land available, has already been prepared. But he said that actual sowing is small, just 3,000 hectares so far. By the end of June, sowing should reach 85 percent.
In terms of research on flood resistant strains of rice, one of these strains has moved beyond research and is now in the fields. But he said that the strain is not resistant to flooding for long enough periods to match the levels of floods that have hit Guyana in recent years, affecting rice production.
On the ever present concern of rice prices, Singh said that the price offered to farmers range from between $3,100 and 3,500 per bag of paddy.
“While I agree that the farmers should get more, it is [based] on the millers’ ability to get the paddy sold. They cannot buy at a price [at which] they cannot get the paddy sold,” Singh said.
Singh said that during late 2009, the price of rice went up on the international market and then came down towards April of 2010. But the price decrease still saw prices settling at a level above where it was when it began to increase. He said that with high prices for rice on the world market would come high expectations from farmers and this is something he cautioned against.
He said that millers should not behave in a cartel- like manner, where they group together and decide on a common price for paddy. He said that the price that the millers pay the farmers should only be determined from the prices that the millers sell the rice for on the overseas market. Singh said that although the Competition and Fair Trading mechanism in Guyana is only in its infant stage, that mechanism should be able to exercise some sanction should millers seek to exploit farmers through unfair practices.
Singh said that a large percentage of farmers still lag behind and are holding on to old practices in the field. This is causing them to be less productive than those who have adopted improved and modern methods of rice planting and harvesting.
He said that although there is a cost to doing things in a more modernized way, farmers who invest of their money and time do see returns through improved yields. Singh said that for about four years now the GRDB has been engaging farmers to be more advanced in their techniques so that they could benefit from the higher yields.