RICE farmers are currently benefiting from fertilizer being sold them at the subsidized price of $5,000 per 50-kilogram bag, in an initiative rolled out by the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA).

Agriculture Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy announced over the weekend that 7,000 tonnes of fertilizer are being made available to rice farmers via rice millers. He explained that there is an agreement to allow rice farmers who still have outstanding monies to receive from rice millers to take the fertilizers and have the millers discount its cost from the monies they are owed.

Paddy sales to local rice millers totalled some $45B for 2014, with more than $42B having been paid out. There still, however, remain some challenges relative to ensuring full payment to rice farmers. To this end, the arrangement of discounting the fertilizer cost from the monies owed is expected to ensure all debts are cleared.

The Agriculture Ministry reportedly imported the 7,000 tonnes of fertilizer from Venezuela in partnership with the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) and the Guyana Rice Producers’ Association (RPA).

The Government of Guyana had offered similar support to rice farmers in 2013.