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Low cost urea saves rice industry $1B – GRAP
Thanks to the affordable prices of fertilizer on the local market because of the presence of urea from Venezuela, the local rice industry was able to save about $1B during this present crop.
Dharamkumar Seeraj
This is according to Dharamkumar Seeraj, General Secretary of the Guyana Rice Producers’ Association (GRPA), during a recent interview with this publication. He noted that the low cost for fertilizer is a contributing factor for the over 220,000 acres of lands that were cultivated for this rice crop that is currently being harvested.
The Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) through the Ministry of Agriculture in November 2013 purchased 7,000 tons of urea from Venezuela. Of that amount, 2,000 tons were sold to the Guyana Sugar Corporation and the remainder to farmers.
According to Jagnarine Singh, General Manager of GRDB, the initial shipment of urea from Venezuela is expected to arrive by the end of the first rice crop of 2014. Following this, GRDB would be reviewing its purchase of fertilizer arrangement with the Spanish speaking state.
Seeraj related that the GRPA is part of the review since it played a major part in that policy decision. He said that the major objective of this intervention was to ensure a general reduction of the prices of fertilizer across the country.
He emphasized that the intervention was not intended to subsidize the cost for fertilizer. It was proven successful since the price for a bag of fertilizer was reduced by $2,500.
“I was pleasantly surprised that the competition was able to match the prices. Because all of the time they were saying they couldn’t have done it but now they said they could do it,” Seeraj said.
According to Singh, GRDB decided to purchase urea for resale to bring down the price on the local market to match the international price. Since the presence of Venezuelan urea on the local market, private businesses have reduced their prices.
Jagnarine Singh
Singh enlightened that this is the first time GRDB has gotten involved in such a venture. The body is using its own money to purchase the fertilizer from Venezuela. The money received from sales is reimbursed to GRDB accounts. The venture does not rake in much profit for GRDB since spillage occurs during the transportation phase, he said.
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