-initial report received by President on Panamanian agreement mirrors success

PRESIDENT Donald Ramotar, yesterday, informed the media that there has been progress in expanding Guyana’s rice export market, following an agreement with Panama and noted that the rice industry is expecting bigger success this year.He explained that his recent trip to Colombia paved the way for a meeting with the President of Panama and since then, he has sent a delegation to Panama to seek more markets for rice. He disclosed that after the team had returned, the initial report presented to him was one which recorded a successful mission by the delegation.
According to the President, the country has managed to get new markets for rice in Panama and is continuing to look for more markets in Central America and Africa.
He noted: “We are pursuing those markets aggressively in order not to restrict the growth in production in rice but to find the markets for the increased production that we have. “
This year rice production is expected to be about 600,000 tonnes which will be a big improvement
Some 225,000 acres of rice have been cultivated with a projected target of 310,000 tonnes for the second rice crop this year.

Challenges in Sugar
The President noted, however, that while the rice sector is progressing, the story in the sugar sector is somewhat different, considering the challenges plaguing the industry.
He stressed: “The sugar industry has shown a better performance, but that doesn’t mean it is out of its difficulties that it had. But it shows too that it has the potential to overcome the difficulties, once everyone works together in the same direction.”
The production in the first sugar crop was almost 80,000 tonnes of sugar, well over the established target and well above the production of the 2013 first crop.
“The second crop has started back and there are still some difficulties that they’re going through with unseasonal weather, the turnout that I spoke about before with work is still an issue and by information that we have about a 53 per cent turnout so we still have those difficulties,” the President said.
To this end, Mr. Ramotar stated that the move to mechanisation is becoming increasingly necessary. “It is important to us to go more and more into mechanisation in the sugar industry because of the labour,” he said.
Also, a $6B allocation, in the 2014 National Budget, for GuySuCo was approved by the National Assembly. The $6B is expected to cover expenditure that include mechanisation, through the conversion of 2,500 hectares of land to be suitable for mechanical operations, which will be done at a cost of $1.1B, tillage and replanting of 9,200 hectares, both efforts being consistent with improving cane production and yield, which will be done at a cost of $1B; factory upgrading of all sugar estates, including Skeldon, at a cost of $2B, and works to field infrastructure to improve field to factory access and purchasing of equipment, excavators, Bell loaders, tractors, etc. to account for the remainder of the allocation.
Sugar production came in at a dismal 186,500 tonnes for 2013, but the target for this year has been set at 219,000, a revised figure from 216,000 following the progress of the first crop.
Guyana has been taking steps to turn around the sugar industry and hopes to meet the 300,000 tonnes-target soon, with a projection that the sector will reach its 400,000-tonne goal by 2020.

(By Ravin Singh)