INDUBITABLY the PNC-led coalition’s broken pre-election promises was a major contributory factor to its decline of popularity and voter-support and the precipitation of its defeat at the polls in March of this year. Among the most negatively impacted sectors was the agriculture sector, with the rice industry sent into a downward spiral as a result of those broken promises.

The rice industry, like the sugar industry, was a major mainstay of the national economy.
Unfortunately, during the long tenure of the Burnham/Hoyte PNC governments, until October 1992, the rice industry was neglected to the point of collapse and, as a result, Guyana reached a state where cheap and poor quality rice had to be imported from South-East Asia to supply the domestic market in order to be able to satisfy our international markets.
During that time thousands of rice farmers abandoned their rice cultivation; consequently, between 1968 and 1980, the number of rice-growing families declined from 45,000 to about 23,000.

This was not surprising because there was no incentive and impetus to continue rice cultivation: the opposite held true instead. The PNC government on ascension to power, implemented several courses of action that were inimical to the agricultural sector, which discouraged farmers and laid the foundation for the contraction of the rice industry.

One of the first things it did was to remove the farmers from controlling the then Rice Marketing Board (RMB), which had been established under the PPP government.

Instead of farmers who are the producers of rice, having the greater say within the RMB, it was the bureaucrats and hand-picked party individuals, who had little or no knowledge of rice production, who became the new bosses of the industry.

In addition, such concessions as duty-free fuel and fertilisers were all removed and in one instance when the farmers protested against the ills of the industry, police dogs were unleashed on them. The Guyana Rice Producers Association (GRPA), which was the bona fide representative of the rice farmers, was de-recognised and replaced by a PNC puppet organisation.

To compound the farmers’ plight, there was a rapid decline in drainage and irrigation due to a cessation of government funding, consequencing the rice industry being plagued by flooding, which created havoc with our agricultural sector, not least the rice industry.

However, because of the policies and programmes of the PPP/C administration that governed Guyana between 1992 to 2015, together with the resilience of the farmers, the rice industry was revitalised and subsequently began rivalling the traditional backbone of the national economy – the sugar industry.

During the debate of the national budget in 2011, then Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud noted the success of the industry and revealed that in the preceding year the rice industry had made a record production of 360,996 tonnes, with the sector projected to increase its production in 2011 even further to 379,628 tonnes, a 4.9 per cent increase in value added.

He noted that the vision of the PPP/C administration was to have an expanded and more competitive industry.
Persaud referenced Guyana’s entry into the Venezuelan market and pointed out that the move was highly criticised. However, he noted that with Guyana tapping into a new market, the intention was to develop and expand the product range; in other words, with more emphasis to have been placed on value-added products.

A major plus for the rice sector was the release of two new rice varieties, GRDB 9 and GRDB 10, which had greater durability against insect-infestation and diseases, with several other being tested.

Small farmers’ groups were introduced to a special three-year financial facility of some $220M, $180M in grants and $40M in low-interest loans, which was intended to facilitate their expansion and allow them to farm through best practices.
Under the Rural Enterprise and Agriculture Development (READ) was the establishment of the Enterprise Development Fund (EDF), through which support to small farmers was provided.

Apart from the afore-mentioned initiatives, there was tremendous emphasis on drainage and irrigation, which is an essential prerequisite for any successful agricultural programme.

Additionally, as a consequence of a special request from the Guyana Rice Producers’ Association General-Secretary Dharamkumar Seeraj – directly to then President Bharrat Jagdeo–the government had given duty-free concessions on fuel, agricultural machinery and spares.
The decline of the agricultural sector under another PNC-led government has once again precipitated the free-fall of all agriculture-based industries – primarily rice, sugar, cash-crops and their manufactured by-products; with the rice industry taking another severe downturn – near to annihilation — except for RPA collaborating with the private sector to sustain/attain markets and fight for farmers’ rights with millers.

The return of another PPP/C administration, which has always shown itself amenable to advocacy on the farmers’ behalf, especially through representation by the RPA GS Seeraj, who takes a hands-on, people/farmer-centric approach to administration.

The coalition government had unilaterally cut off the annual subsidy to the RPA, which were funds accrued from farmer’s subscriptions for representation and other services; so, apart from the personal service by Seeraj, the RPA had to curtail its projected plans, including the provision of advantageous terms on the acquisition of seed paddy, fertiliser and fuel that were intended to boost rice production and make the sector even more viable than in the years preceding 2015.

Had the PNC-led coalition won another term in office, the agriculture sector would have continued decelerating – to the point of extinction.
With the prodigious production of agriculture-based products under the former PPP/C administration’s ‘Grow More’ campaign and The Jagdeo Initiative, complemented by its multiplicity of supportive interventions to boost the sector, Guyana had achieved the UN’s MDG for food security.
Successive PPP/C governments have always seen agriculture as one of its major planks for development with a human face – the mantra of the iconic Dr. Cheddi Jagan. All the actions and promises of the current PPP/C administration under President Irfaan Ali’s watch indicate that this praxis will be a continuum in its developmental trajectory.