FACING increasing fuel and in some cases increased rent prices and a lower yield this crop, some rice farmers are hopeful of seeing an increase in paddy prices for the second crop of 2018, but some are afraid to get their hopes up too much.

“It kind a more expensive this crop, than other crop. Fuel price raise by about 200 a gallon, we would look forward to that raise of price but we don’t know if we will get it,” said one Region Five farmer.

“We look for $3500 [per bag] at least, so we can see our way, but with the price at $3000 and the expense we going into this crop I think we might make a loss.”
The farmer noted that so far, since he has started reaping for this crop, his has been experiencing a lower yield per acre, this, he said, is due to rain fall during the August period.

“When the rain was falling August there, the rain beat the pollen out of the plant, so you get less grain. Right now harvesting average yield is 23 – 25 bags per acre,” he said.
Last crop the farmers were harvesting an average of 40 bags per acre.

“Yes, with the extent of cost to farmers, paddy price should be around $4000 at least, but the millers them nah pay,” opined another Region Five farmer.

Over in Region Two, harvesting commenced just last week, so the farmers are yet to assess their yield, however the situation is just as bleak for those farmers. The farmers most recently complained to the Minister of Agriculture, Noel Holder, about their being owed millions by millers in that area.

Head of the Essequibo Paddy Producers’ Association, Naith Ram, is not expectant of any changes in paddy price on his end, he particularly faults this on the fact that majority of the mills are monopolised by one particular owner, who is using the monopoly to take advantage of the farmers.

“Price has gone down and this is having a negative effect. The cost of production has gone up, fertiliser gone up, fuel gone, up, parts gone up, in fact everything has gone up and now with the monopoly … the farmers [in Region Two] will suffer severely,” Ram said.
Since the mills are privately owned, it is up to those owners to decide on whether increases will be issued. Instead, Ram is hopeful that instead relief could come to the farmers in the form of concessions.

General Secretary of the Guyana Rice Producers Association (GRPA), Dharamkumar Seeraj, believes the millers themselves are hard pressed to pay more as they too are owed by the Guyana Rice Development Board.

“I doubt that they will get any better price because the fact of the matter is that the millers have not received any new market, and they are still awaiting to be paid from the GRDB,” Seeraj said.

“The rice board owes farmers over US$6M, that’s over GUY$1 billion, so the rice board should pay the millers so the farmers can get paid. The rice board have the money, the millers don’t sell to Panama they sell to the rice board. Expenses have gone up because there has been the removal of the VAT concession so the farmers have to pay VAT now on the parts. So the farmers them will be hard pressed to get a better price under the circumstances.”