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Rice millers facing one-week deadline to submit licencing documents

Jan 03, 2014 News

 
Guyana would be looking to repeat last year’s record-breaking rice production but it may an uphill task. The country produced in excess of 535,000 tonnes, which translated to about 113,000 more than the 2012 figures. It was the highest ever production for rice on record for Guyana.
Officials are now crunching projection figures, saying that it may be difficult to reach that again.
Already, the regulator, Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), has started moving to ensure millers are fully licenced, in preparation for the crops, the first which is currently being sown.
According to a notice in the state-owned, Guyana Chronicle on January 1st, the licencing process for this year has commenced effective yesterday. Millers across the country have until next Friday (January 10th), to submit reports of what it owes farmers and what they intend to purchase this year.
Millers have to also ensure that their scales and moisture meters are fully calibrated before the purchasing of rice from the first crop.
GRDB, under new regulations introduced to protect farmers from delays in payments, had mandated that payments to farmers have to be made within certain times, failure of which could attract interest and even see a revocation of the licences.
On October 21st, the Ministry of Agriculture had reported that Guyana surpassed the 500,000-tonne production mark.
At that time, it would have been 100,000 tonnes more than what was produced the previous year.
Agriculture Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, did not rule out a 600,000-tonne production.
“Indeed I would say to everyone that should we be able to find the markets, not the market that would take our rice, because we have enough people who want our rice, but the markets that would pay us the price we want for our rice, then we can reach 600,000 tonnes within the next year or maximum two years.”
The Minister made it clear that the production by farmers came not as a result of increased acreage, but as a result of higher yields.
“We consistently now surpass five tonnes per hectare, that used to be another magical goal that we are now reaching routinely, and we believe that we can reach six tonnes per hectare.”
Guyana had two successive years (2011 and 2012) of production of more than 400,000 tonnes of rice. The 412,000 tonnes set for 2012 was surpassed by 10,000 tonnes. A total of 334,000 tonnes were exported, while in 2011, the production was 402,000 tonnes.
New rice varieties and management strategies such as the six-point practices have been credited for higher yields of rice. Farmers, for a long time, have been complaining of markets and delayed payments.
The situation took a turn for the better after the country and its oil-rich neighbour, Venezuela, struck a lucrative rice-for-oil deal. With that market, participating farmers and millers would be paid by GRDB from monies that had been destined to pay back Venezuela for oil sold under the PetroCaribe agreement. The agreement has been seen as boon to the rice industry which has surpassed sugar in terms of foreign earnings.
The country has been actively attempting to find new markets also, especially in the region.

 

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