GENERAL Secretary of the Guyana Rice Producers Association (RPA), Mr. Dharamkumar Seeraj, says a break in adverse weather patterns has led to a start of harvesting and preparing dams. He projected that harvesting will be in full swing later this month in Regions Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam), Three (Essequibo Islands/West Demerara), Five (Mahaica/Berbice) and Six (East Berbice/Corentyne), the main rice producing areas.
Output this year is set at 4.2 million bags of paddy from 175,000 acres.
Seeraj said that in Region Two, a bag of paddy is being sold at between $2,600 and $3,500.
He added too that Region Two has a problem of capacity and mills may not be able to take off the paddy produced by farmers there.
However, he noted that this is being addressed.
In Region Six, several paddy trucks line the roadway in front of Nand Persaud Rice Milling Complex, a sign that harvesting is progressing well.
The RPA General Secretary said many farmers in that region did not plant because of the weather and, in most of the cases, because of non-payment from the Mahaicony Rice Mill.
Seeraj said the delinquent miller has not honoured his commitments to pay rice farmers.
The last date given by the company was September 10, but he said no payments have been made.
Some farmers have complained about receiving bad cheques from Mahaicony Rice Mill, which bounced when taken to the bank.
Seeraj said some farmers in Black Bush Polder and Number 70 in Region Six received payment sometime last week, but observed that the others, from Essequibo too, are “under pressure.”
Farmers are generally frustrated since delays in payments are affecting not only their next crops, but more importantly, their primary source of support for many families, he noted.
An audit to reconcile the famers’ claims of monies owed them by the Mahaicony Rice Mill Limited figures is underway by the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), he said.
Additionally, the problem of non-payment is expected to be addressed in the National Assembly with the amendment of the Rice Factory Act, which should allow rice farmers some added protection.
The amendment is expected to ensure that millers have to pay every farmer 95 percent before they receive a licence and this must be completed within 42 days of supply.
In 1998, the government enacted the Rice Factories Act, No.8 of 1998 which sought to regularise the construction of mills, paddy grading and purchasing, and improve the overall quality of rice exports.
On January 11, 2007, the Amendment of the Rice Factories Act was passed in the National Assembly which made it mandatory that millers pay a minimum of 95 percent of outstanding amounts owed to farmers at the end of the year before their mill/export licences are renewed.
The Rice Factories (Amendment) Bill 2010 was read for the first time in the National Assembly in July.
Support
Meanwhile, the RPA General Secretary noted that the farmers continue to receive support and Farmers Field School sessions continue.
One of the more recent, he said, was in Essequibo which focused on inspecting rice fields and addressing other concerns of farmers.
The Farmers Field School was initiated to ‘pool together’ the resources of the better farmers in a structured way to help address some of the concerns encountered by them in the industry.