– GRDB credits success to opening of markets in Mexico, Cuba

FOR the period January – April 2018, Guyana has exported 139,501 metric tonnes of paddy, rice, and rice by-products amounting to US $57.7Million.

This surpasses 2017’s export of 120,811 metric tonnes equivalent to US $47M and General Manager of the Guyana Rice Development Board, Nizam Hassan has credited this to the opening up of new markets in Mexico and Cuba.

Hassan noted that Guyana had not exported to the Cuban market for a number of years. However, the amount now being exported has increased by more than one hundred per cent. He explained, “In 2017, we exported 15,512 tonnes, which was supplied from just one miller-exporter. Thus far, we have two millers that have been given contracts to export to Cuba. So far for this year, we have exported 37,418 tonnes valued at US $18.9 Million and we still have more to send. We definitely have already more than 100 per cent over the 2017 figures.”

Hassan added that with the projected increase of consumption, there has been increased production activity. “These two markets have helped the exports to grow as well as to stimulate interest that has encouraged the farmers to return to cultivation. The FAO has reported that the global consumption of rice is projected to increase in 2018, and with that, we’re seeing some amount of increased activity on the production level, also the interest by the millers. And this is of course followed by the export of paddy, rice and it’ by-products.” Hassan further said. The GRDB board has heightened efforts to further garner more markets for farmers, millers, and the stakeholders involved in the industry by introducing a new rice variety. ‘GRDB 15’ can give as much as 20 per cent more than the current high yielding variety ‘GRDB 10’ which means more bags per acre. After seven years of research, the GRDB officially unveiled the ‘GRDB 15’ in April this year.

Last week Guyana Chronicle reported that 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.
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 per cent 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.