Latest update April 7th, 2025 6:08 AM
Rice farmers to Govt.: “Improve paddy prices or leave office”
Rice farmers of Essequibo protesting low prices for paddy
Kaieteur News – As inflation continues to sweep across the country, rice farmers on the Essequibo Coast are taking their concerns to the street, as they continue to protest the price being paid per bag of paddy.
Some 50 farmers gathered on the Anna Regina High Bridge on Wednesday in a bid to register their concerns to the Government. Farmers told this publication that they are being paid $3,300 to $3,500 per bag of paddy. Production cost, on the other hand, has more than doubled with the price of fertilizer moving from $5,000 to $10,000.
John, a rice farmer who spoke on behalf of his colleagues yesterday, said, “The reason for being out here is because production was very costly for the current crop, we used to pay $5,000 for a bag of fertilizer last crop, now is $10,000 and over. Every cost of production in the rice industry went up, spraying, fertilizing to cutting the prices all gone up and the best price is only $3,500 and that is the extra A.”
Farmers believe that the Government of Guyana has a role to play in ensuring they get a better price per bag of paddy. “We can’t accept less than $5,000 a bag because of production…I think the government has a responsibility to see if they can do something. I don’t know much of the transaction between the government and the millers, but I think if the millers can pay $3,500 or something more the government should look into it.”
One of the recommendations pitched by farmers was for the Government to at least subsidize some aspects of production. “I think the government should step in, or we will be forced to leave the land, and that’s a promise by all. In 2014, we had a similar crisis and the government brought fertilizer through GRDB, and the businessman on the Essequibo Coast was forced to drop his price,” said one farmer.
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