THE Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) has called out U.S.-indicted businessman Azruddin Mohamed regarding the government’s 2025 second-crop paddy subsidy, describing his statements as “reckless, malicious, and wholly unfounded.”
In a statement released on Monday, the GRDB said Mohamed’s assertions surrounding the paddy intervention were “not rooted in fact” and amounted to “political fiction,” accusing him of deliberately misleading rice farmers and the wider public.
“The Guyana Rice Development Board categorically rejects the reckless, malicious and wholly unfounded statements being peddled by Mr Azruddin Mohamed regarding the 2025 second-crop paddy intervention,” the board stated.
According to the GRDB, farmers were not paid on the basis of estimates, acreage assumptions, or speculative calculations, but strictly on verified deliveries made to licensed rice mills.
“For the avoidance of doubt, rice farmers are not paid based on speculative acreage, imagined averages, or crude, back-of-the-envelope calculations designed for political propaganda. Farmers are paid strictly on the actual, verified number of bags of paddy delivered to licensed rice mills,” the statement said.
The board outlined a detailed verification and payment process, stressing that every bag of paddy paid for was officially recorded and cross-checked against farmer-issued vouchers.
It further noted that all figures were verified by farmers themselves before being submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture for approval.
“Only after this verification was completed was the data submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture,” the GRDB said, adding that cheques were lawfully approved, issued individually, and distribution commenced from January 7 in Region Five, with the same process carried out in Regions Two, Three, Four, and Six.
The GRDB said Mohamed’s public comments demonstrated “a profound lack of understanding of how the rice industry functions,” pointing specifically to what it described as his “simplistic and erroneous attempt to multiply acreage by an arbitrary-yield figure.”
“This is an approach that exposes not only his ignorance, but his gross incompetence on the subject,” the board asserted.
Addressing claims of irregularities, the GRDB emphasised that Guyana’s Constitution provides clear mechanisms for redress, noting that unsubstantiated public accusations were not a substitute for accountability.

“If Mr Mohamed genuinely believes there were irregularities in the process, the Constitution of Guyana provides a clear and lawful avenue for redress: the Office of the Auditor General. Empty public accusations, unsupported by evidence, do not substitute for accountability,” the statement said.
The board also rejected any suggestion that rice farmers were misled, stating that farmers received their cheques, understood the system, and have publicly expressed appreciation for the government’s timely intervention.
“Rice farmers are not deceived. They received their cheques. They know precisely what they delivered,” the GRDB said, adding that this was evidenced by “hundreds of testimonies already shared in the media.”
GRDB further maintained that the facts surrounding the subsidy programme remain clear.
“The facts stand,” the board said. “And they continue to bury Mr Mohamed’s falsehoods.”