–says VP Jagdeo as he pledges more support to rice farmers

WHILE emphasising that the government will continue to provide support in various forms to Region Two rice farmers, Vice-President Dr. Bharrat Jadgeo said that over $250 million in fertiliser has been already been distributed and more that $50 million spent on the upgrading of access dams.

Dr. Jagdeo made these disclosures during a meeting with the region’s rice farmers at the Anna Regina Secondary School on the Essequibo Coast on Monday.

He reminded the farmers that during his last visit to the Pomeroon-Supenaam region, he announced that $250 million in fertiliser would be distributed to them.

He said that he was happy to learn that those rice farmers have received their fertiliser vouchers, and are presently reaping the benefits.

During his address to the large gathering, Dr. Jagdeo said that the government will continue to support farmers, and that in addition to the fertiliser, over $30 million was spent on the upgrading of access dams in the region.

He said that a special committee was formed, and the money was released by the Ministry of Agriculture.

“I made it clear that if we are paying people to do the work, we must get the output. We must supervise the dams when they are building,” the VP said, before adding that more access dams will be upgraded.

A $24 million grader was given to the region to assist with the upgrading of the access dams.

Jagdeo noted that over the years, the government has ensured that favourable conditions exist for farmers.

In addition to the foregoing, he said that two drying floors were constructed at Somerset and Berks and Riverstown for farmers to dry their paddy, and that the steel door sluice at Andrews was reinforced to alleviate flooding at Somerset and Better Hope.

Farmers were also given seed paddy following floods in the region, Jagdeo said.

According to the vice-president, infrastructure is a very important element of the rice industry.

“It’s not just [about] market; it is about infrastructure to support the industry. We came in to office, and we immediately increased the budget by billions of dollars,” Dr. Jagdeo said.

He said that the government has started to rebuild the infrastructure, thereby creating a “positive” environment for rice farmers. He used the opportunity to urge the farmers to consider diversifying and to “think outside of rice.”

Meanwhile, rice miller Rupan Ramotar has called for a “skilled” driver to be hired to operate the region’s grader, since the current one does not have the required knowledge to operate the machine.

Later, Jagdeo assured him that a new driver will be hired.

Other rice farmers used the occasion to once again call for a better price for a bag of paddy.

Rice millers are currently paying higher prices for the current crop. This followed Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha’s intervention.