Farmers not receiving benefits from Venezuela rice deal

May 30, 2010 News

Several millers who sold rice to Venezuela but refused to pass the higher prices down to farmers may find themselves being sidelined from future shipments, in the face of several complaints.

The complaints came even as Guyana gets ready to make another shipment of paddy to the neighbouring country.
On Friday, officials of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) confirmed that 4,600 tonnes of paddy valued at over US$2.1M, could leave as early as today.
However, the rice shipments are not making GRDB and other rice officials happy. The deal with Venezuela, brokered last year, was done with the intention that millers and exporters would pass the higher prices down to the farmers.
“We see the farmers still receiving the same prices and sometimes even lower prices. The farmers are complaining and we have spoken to the millers who are benefiting but there are not much changes,” a senior GRDB official admitted yesterday.
Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud, had also been warning millers and exporters, benefiting from the deal, about the low prices.
The Minister had also urged for more millers to take advantage of the deal and market their rice there.
Local paddy prices are hovering around $3,000 per bag at present but officials believe this figure could be upped by another $300-$400 for farmers.
On the world market, prices for white rice are just over US$300 per tonne while paddy is being sold at around US$500 per tonnes.
Last year, as a result of the historic Venezuela deal, Guyana was getting US$330 per tonne for white rice and US$560 for paddy.
This was re-negotiated earlier this year after a Guyana team comprising GRDB’s General Manager, Jagnarine Singh, was able to up the white rice price to US$420 per tonne and paddy to US$700 per tonne.
An estimated 4,500 tonnes of paddy valued at US$1.9M was also sent off last week. It will mean that some 36,000 tonnes of rice and paddy still have to be shipped.
Last year, President Bharrat Jagdeo brokered the deal with Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, after the local rice industry was heavily affected by falling world prices and a glut in the international market.
The deal between the two countries would have seen Guyana earning US$18.8M.
However, Government renegotiated a new agreement for the remaining rice and paddy, with the Venezuela Government agreeing to pay US$2.9M more on the deal, bringing it to US$21.7M.

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