THE Government of Guyana has no apologies to make for its continued commitment and support to the rice industry and to the farmers and other stakeholders in the industry. Whether it was in the late 1950s to the middle of the 1960s or since 1992, the rice industry has flourished under successive PPP governments. Throughout the PPP’s period in Government, the rice industry has been exclusively a private sector industry. We have been deliberate in supporting and investing to facilitate the continued growth of this private sector industry. There has been no deviation from this truth.The PPP Government is proud to do so and we have no apologies. We are committed to continued and expanding support to the rice industry as a genuine contributor to Guyana’s economy. If there is one thing that the Guyanese people can be certain of, it is that the PPP Government will continue to support this industry in the same manner we have in the past and we will continue to seek ways to expand our support.

We reject Kaieteur News using the successes of the rice industry to promote an anti-government agenda. We note with deep interest and regret the threats made to the industry by APNU+AFC and their collaborators. We note that the Kaieteur News is one of the collaborators and they even fabricate their own lies. On Tuesday, March 17, the Kaieteur News in a bold headline stated that Ramon Gaskin claimed that the thriving rice industry is benefiting government associates and friends.
I checked the article to see who are these government associates and friends, but the article simply stated that Gaskin castigated the government for providing support to a private business. We do not deny supporting the rice industry. But is Kaieteur News asserting that this support is because we are supporting associates and friends? If this means that the farmers are our associates and friends, then we are guilty.
We challenge the Kaieteur News to tell us who these associates and friends are. But this is another way the Kaieteur News twists stories to suit their anti-government agenda. They spin stories in bold, misleading headlines, with a deliberate intention – fool as many citizens as possible. Anyone reading the article would find that the misleading headline was totally not linked to the story and mischievous. Each day they provide further proof that they are not a newspaper, but a propaganda machine.
Similarly, the APNU+AFC Voodoo Policies continued to be exposed through their anti-rice agenda. When people like Carl Greenidge criticise investment by the Government in the rice industry because it is a private sector business and because it is successful, he demonstrates his continued lack of understanding of the industry. No wonder the PNC destroyed and crippled the rice industry in the 1980s. The criticisms from other cohorts of the PNC and the AFC underline their voodoo strategy for economic growth in Guyana. Voodoo economics destroyed Guyana in the 1970s and 1980s, and this is what the PNC (APNU+AFC) offers Guyana for the future.
We note that it was Greenidge in 1989 who gave away most of the Government’s rice infrastructure to one man and none of those facilities are functioning today. The PNC’s failed engagement in the rice industry in the 1970s and 1980s stands as a shameful legacy today.
According to Greenidge, the investment by the PPP Government in the rice industry is wrong. In the 2014 budget, they voted against the allocation for the rice industry, arguing that the rice industry is successful and does not need any support. One of the architects of the strategy that crippled the rice industry in the 1980s dares to tell us what we should do, while conceding that the industry is thriving and successful.
The APNU+AFC spokesman gives us all an insight into their plans for the rice industry. The only time the rice industry failed was when the PNC was the government. With their foolish positions at this time, it is clear that, any time they have control of the Government, the rice industry will fail again. Let me immediately address the lies they shamelessly tell.
LIE NUMBER 1: FAILURE TO FIND MARKETS: He and the others are unable to dispute the real possibility of 1M tonnes of paddy, equivalent to about 650,000 tons of rice, in 2015. This will represent four years of successive record-breaking production in Guyana. In 2014, production was 635,238 rice or 974,000 tonnes of paddy. These truths tell of a very successful story. But they try to distract from this truth by saying that while the industry is successful in production, we cannot find markets. They accuse us of intervention into a private business, but on the other hand, they accuse us of not finding markets.
The truth is that in 2014, Guyana exported 501,208 tonnes of rice. This was a record export for Guyana. We added new destinations and expanded existing markets. We sell more to the Caribbean and Europe, the traditional markets. Within the European market, we have added new destinations. We continue to sustain the Venezuelan market which came into effect from 2009. In 2010, the Venezuelan market was 70% of local production. In 2014, the Venezuelan market, which maintained its volume, was only about 31% of production.
But Guyana has also expanded into non-traditional markets. Countries such as Belize, Panama, Nicaragua and Guatemala have been added to the export destinations for Guyana’s rice. As we speak, a larger market in North America, and new markets in Central America and Africa are being finalized, with a potential to exceed 600,000 tonnes in 2015. The Government actively seeks new markets for the rice industry and we allow the private sector to sustain and expand these markets. That is how a government facilitates a private sector business. The PPP sees this as a positive partnership.
LIE NUMBER 2: MILLERS ARE STUCK WITH STOCKS THEY CANNOT SELL: They misinform and lie to the Guyanese people that millers have stocks that remain stuck in storage and cannot take in new stock from the new harvesting that has just started. I challenge them to list the millers who are stuck with excess stocks in storage. Most millers have no rice or paddy at this time. There are some millers with residual stocks. The truth is that there was a carryover of about 140,000 tonnes of paddy into 2015. Carryover stocks are normal for the rice industry. During the period of late December and the middle of March when there is no rice harvesting, this carryover stock is used for local consumption for food, for industry and for export. More than 100,000 tonnes of the carryover stocks have been used for export. So while some milers may have residual stocks in hand, a normal industry practice, we challenge Greenidge and the others to give us the list of millers with stocks that take up their total storage and, therefore, affect their buying for 2015.
LIE NUMBER 3: GOVERNMENT GIVES MILLERS LOW PRICES AND KEEP MOST OF THE MONEY: Firstly, they claim this is private sector business. Indeed, the private sector is responsible for exporting most of Guyana’s rice. The Government plays a facilitating role only for the Venezuela market and recently for a part of the Panama market. In terms of production, this is about 33%. Thus, the private sector is directly responsible for the local and export sales accounting for 67% of Guyana’s production and the other 33% with Government’s partnership.
The price the GRDB pays to millers account for almost 100% of the price after expenses are deducted. These expenses include costs for shipping, testing and charges associated with ports in Guyana and Venezuela and to pay for logistics for teams from Venezuela and Panama.
The prices paid to farmers are not determined by government. We wish we could, but these prices represent private transactions. It is an untruth that millers pay farmers $40,000 per tonne for paddy of normal quality. While this might be true for sub-standard paddy, the price is higher than this for paddy that meets export quality.
They claim that we get $180,000 per tonne for paddy. Let these doomsayers give us that price and demonstrate they are willing to help. We are aware that no country or no international buyer pays that price. So we challenge them to name the buyer or the country that pays $180,000 ($US900) per tonne for paddy. The Government does not get such a price and we are aware that no miller gets this price. Therefore, we challenge Greenidge and the others to tell us who pay this price. If they do not want to give us the names of the buyers who pay that price, then let Mr. Turbane Doerga and Jinnah Rahman sell rice and paddy to these buyers. Nothing stops them from doing so. Getting those prices, they can pay farmers a high price.
Overall, prices paid to farmers in 2010 when prices were about $4,000 per bag were dictated by the Venezuela market which accounted for 70% of production. Today, the Venezuelan market accounts for only about 31% of the production and in 2015 will account for below 30% of production. Prices are now dictated by the larger, lower-priced markets

LIE NUMBER 4: WE OFFER NO SUPPORT OR TOO MUCH SUPPORT: For either of these charges, they lie. We concede that one of the problems the industry faces is that millers pay farmers late. The same people who say that we should not intervene in a private sector-run industry, say that we should pay the farmers. When we intervene to allow timely payments to farmers, they accuse us of being too supportive of the rice industry because most rice farmers support the PPP.
The PPP Government continues to urge millers to pay farmers fairly and on time. We have intervened with a revolving arrangement that totals about $5B in 2014 to ensure that farmers are paid. With the new harvesting starting, more than 99% of payments by millers to farmers have been completed. Without the government intervening, many farmers would still be owed by millers. These millers, themselves have about $10B outstanding from international buyers who usually pay three to six months later. We will continue to provide that support as bridging funding to ensure that farmers are paid.

LIE NUMBER 5: GOVERNMENT DOES NOT HAVE ANY BUSINESS IN THE RICE INDUSTRY: This is an overt threat to the rice industry that should make every farmer and miller and all other stakeholders cringe. Is this their policy for the rice industry? Are they saying that they will halt all support to the rice industry? Government invests in the mining industry. We have not heard a whimper from APNU+AFC. What about Government’s investments in providing electricity for almost free in Linden?
The PPP Government provides bridge financing to ensure that farmers do not have to wait beyond one crop for their payments. We would like to ensure even shorter waiting time for payments and we will shorten that time further in 2015. We offer no apologies for facilitating the industry in this manner. The ones who criticize us for intervening in this private sector are charlatans in sheep’s clothing who when they are with the rice farmers promise them the impossible, but when the PPP government provides support, they object.
Different messages for different audiences. Let them tell the rice farmers that this is a private sector business and that government should stay totally out. The Government’s only intervention is to help farmers. We do not engage in whom the farmers sell to and we do not engage in what the millers do. But we do intervene when millers are delinquent in making payments.
We help in other ways, such as research and training: We have no ambiguity about government’s role. We have invested in research and training of farmers. We have facilitated the industry by ensuring Guyana’s rice industry renew and re-energize itself through new varieties. The latter now amount to 14 different varieties that have been brought to the fields in commercial quantities, leading to higher yields and greater disease resistance. We have worked with farmers and our own research centre to provide adequate amounts of high- quality seeds for the industry.
Our training programmes, through field schools, have led to better agronomic practices. These also lead to higher yields. Overall, yields which were stagnated in the 1980s at about 1 to 1.5 tonnes per ha now stand at about 5.5 tonnes per ha. We have also been ensuring access to more affordable fertilizer. In 2013 and 2014, we brought in at least 7,000 tonnes of fertilizer and modulated the price in the private sector. From between $8,000 to $10,000 per bag, we brought it closer to $5,000 per bag. In 2015, we have made arrangements for 14,000 tonnes of fertilizer.
On any given day, the opposition comes out with absurdities as they continue their efforts to destroy the rice industry. This is what they did in the 1980s when the rice industry was crippled. Today as rice flourish, they are trying different means to destroy the industry. They misinform and spread absolute lies in their efforts to negatively impact the industry.
We are proud of the rice industry. We stand with the rice farmers and with other stakeholders. We will continue to expand our support and we dare the APNU+AFC to come clean and tell the farmers that we do too much for them.

DR. LESLIE RAMSAMMY