Rice production in Guyana reached an all-time low of 90,000 tons in 1991.This was the result of disease and the fact that droughts and heavy rains had an adverse effect on rice crops because the irrigation and drainage systems in rice-growing areas were poorly maintained. The area under rice cultivation fell from 100,000 hectares in 1964 to 36,000 hectares in 1988, according to the Guyana Rice Producers’ Association.

Most rice farms in Guyana were privately owned. However, the government operated the irrigation systems and rice-processing mills. This division of the industry resulted in several difficulties, especially since the government of the day had completely neglected irrigation and drainage canals. Meanwhile, the government-run mills were reportedly slow in paying farmers for their crops. In addition, the government-controlled distribution system for tractors, fuel, spare parts, and fertilizer was highly inefficient, according to some reports. In 1990 the government began privatizing the rice industry by putting several rice mills up for sale.

The bulk of Guyana’s rice production was consumed domestically. Even so, exports took on increasing importance during the 1980s as a source of foreign exchange and there were even reports of rice being smuggled out of the country. Guyana shared a quota for rice exports to the EEC with neighbouring Suriname, but was unable to fill the quota during the late 1980s. In 1988 the government set a 1991 production goal of 240,000 tons and an export goal of 100,000 tonnes. In the first quarter of 1990, however, exports fell to a record low of 16,000 tons, for an annual rate of less than 70,000 tonnes. Half of these exports came directly from private farmers, the other half from the Guyana Rice Milling and Marketing.

However, upon acquisition to office the PPP/C Government has employed several mechanisms and invested heavily in interventions, including in the area of D & I to boost the industry, with the result that paddy production has increased from 156,000 tonnes (equivalent to 93,444 tonnes of milled rice) in 1990 to 568,186 tonnes (equivalent to 340,911 tonnes of milled rice) in 1997. This has been achieved through increases in acreage and yields. The harvested acreages have grown from 126,878 acres in 1990 to 352,678 acres in 1997, and yields from 1.23 tonnes to 1.61 tonnes during this period. Because of the effect of El Nino on the first crop of 1998, there was a reduction in the acreage harvested, and production fell: the acreage harvested was 319,789, production was 522,907 tonnes of paddy (equivalent to 339,890 tonnes of rice), and the average yield was 1.63 tonnes per acre.

Between 1991 and 1996, the bulk of Guyana’s exports went to the EU. However, from 1993 to 1996 most exports were made through the Overseas Territories (OCT) of the E.U., because imports of semi-milled rice through the OCT attracted no levy and there was no quota. On the other hand, exports from ACP countries that were made directly to the European Union attracted a levy of 50 percent. Moreover, a quota of 125,000 tonnes for semi-milled rice and 20,000 tonnes polished brokens was imposed on direct imports from ACP countries.

Also, Guyana’s rice exports to the Caribbean, primarily to Jamaica, have had to compete with exports from the United States, which were sold at concessionary prices under the PL 480 Programme. However, this programme is being reduced and may eventually disappear. Guyana will therefore no longer be faced to compete with this low priced product.

But these problems have together impacted badly on Guyana’s rice exports and have forced the industry to seek other outlets in the Caribbean and Lat
in America. However the prices in these markets are much lower than those that were previously obtained in the European market.

The privatisation of the rice industry has not been sufficiently complemented by appropriate regulations and standards. The most serious consequence of this is that the reputation of Guyana as a rice exporting country is at risk because exporters enter into contracts which they are not always able to fulfill; provide rice of inconsistent quality; ship rice of a quality and quantity that are incompatible with their contracts; and apply standards of grading which are not acceptable to overseas markets.

Despite the general shift towards divestment and market liberalisation in the rice sector, many services such as research and extension and the grading of rice and paddy, are still provided through public sector institutions, especially through the National Agricultural and Research Institution, which is currently attempting to develop new rice strains that would stand up to the synergies of fluctuation weather patterns due to climate change, which has been decimating rice crops over the past few years.

Because of inadequate export facilities (wharves, bulk handling and bond facilities) and high handling and transport prices, the costs of exporting rice are high in Guyana. In addition, the constant siltation of Guyana’s rivers restricts the size of ships that can use available wharf facilities. Guyana’s shipping costs to Europe could be significantly reduced if larger ships could enter its harbours, and bulk facilities were available. This would also reduce transportation costs to other markets.

The current strategy of increasing rice production through the utilisation of more land, greater intensity in input use, expanded milling facilities and the many interventions by Government, including revising the Rice Act, has taken the industry to new levels, despite the several inhibitors that are currently impeding the full maximisation of the potential of the rice industry.