…way clear for imports of Guyana’s white rice

IN less than a year, Mexico has purchased more than 174,875 tonnes of paddy from Guyana and will soon move to the importation of white rice from this country.

The exportation of Guyanese paddy to Mexico was birthed out of a visit to that country by Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo in October, 2015. During the Open Governance Global Summit in Mexico City in 2015, Prime Minister Nagamootoo met with Mexico’s Agriculture Minister Jose Calzada and a decision was made to accelerate the process of allowing Guyana’s rice into the Mexican market. In a letter to Prime Minister Nagamootoo on Tuesday, Mexico’s Ambassador to Guyana Ivan Roberto Sierra-Medel expressed deep satisfaction in the progress made since the October 2015 meeting.

In 2016, the phyto-sanitary clearance for Guyana’s paddy was secured. By March 2017, a team from the Guyana Rice Development Board (GDRB) conducted its first mission to Mexico and by July that same year, the first shipments of Guyanese paddy were sent to Mexico. Ambassador Sierra-Medel said official statistics from July to December 2017 have revealed that more than 113,525 tonnes of paddy from Guyana was exported.

It was noted that in March 2018, a second business mission by GRDB and Go-Invest went to Mexico. From January to April 2018, more than 39,850 tonnes of Guyana’s paddy had been shipped to Mexico. “In less than a calendar year, Mexico has purchased more than 174,875 tonnes of Guyanese paddy. As a result of the active trade, Mexico has become the largest individual destination for Guyanese paddy,” Mexico’s Ambassador reported to Prime Minister Nagamootoo.

Additionally, in response to the growing interest in the importation of Guyanese white rice, Mexico has issued phyto-sanitary clearance for the processed grain.

Back in 2015, Prime Minister Nagamootoo had visited Mexico with the aim of securing markets for rice farmers here, who were severely affected by the loss of the Venezuelan rice market. To date, his visit continues to bear fruit. In April, the GRDB reported that over 530,000 tonnes of paddy is projected to be produced, based on reports of higher yields. This is up nine percent from the 488,833 tonnes that were projected for the first crop of 2018.

At the time, statistics had indicated that 310,748 tonnes of paddy equivalent to 201,986 tonnes of rice was harvested for the year. It was noted that 51,280 hectares of the 87,539 hectares sown has been already harvested and according to GRDB General Manager Nizam Hassan, the figures bode well for the industry.

“Thus far, we’ve seen an excellent performance in the first rice crop of 2018. To date, we have harvested 59 percent across the country and we have seen an increase in yields. Yield increases have moved from two bags per acre to as much as nine bags per acre; this has been really good for the farmers since they also have been receiving higher prices for their production. So, overall, we have seen higher yields, better prices and also better paddy coming out of the fields, in terms of production,” he had said. The general manager also noted that there is much more to come, since the projected yield for the first crop of 2018 was 5.6 metric tonnes per hectare, however, with the identified performance and average yield so far being 6.1 tonnes per hectare and one area reporting as much as 7.1 tonnes per hectare, the crop will close with record-breaking yields.