Frustrated Essequibo farmers call for better paddy prices

Feb 22, 2023 News

…Walk out of Agri. Minister’s Essequibo Outreach

Kaieteur News – Frustrated Essequibo farmers on Tuesday demanded better paddy prices during an outreach hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture. Many of the farmers walked out of the planned meeting held at the Rice Producers Association Paddy bond at Anna Regina because the Minister reportedly refused to address their issues collectively.

At the beginning of the outreach, Minister Zulfikar told the farmers that he will not make any general pronouncements on the rice sector but will instead listen privately to “personal and group issues”. His statement angered the farmers who felt that there were many issues to be discussed openly.

Following the announcement, almost half the famers in attendance walked out of the meeting. Some of the farmers, who despite leaving the outreach, lingered outside of the meeting venue and told Kaieteur News that they are in a financial crisis and want ‘real’ solutions.

One farmer, who spoke on behalf of a group, told Kaieteur News, “We come with the intention for a hearing about paddy price. Let the Minister come out and talk… abbi na know wa the paddy price gon be, but abbi know that the drugs price and cost of production gone up high. The last crop, abbi get $3600 a bag, and Berbice ah get $5,500 wa happen to abbi, Essequibo People na counted.”

A number of visible empty chairs at the Ministry of Agriculture’s Anna Regina, Essequibo outreach.

The Government of Guyana through the Ministry of Agriculture had made some efforts in providing cheaper fertilizers to farmers. Despite this effort, however, just 22,000 acres of rice land were cultivated, compared to the just over 30,000 acres available.

One farmer said, “We are in a financial crisis. Plenty farmer want go back to dem land but dem can’t go back because dem gat no money, people owe bank and dem got deh bank to pay and dem got no way to get the money. Where we getting the finance from to go back to the land.”

Kaieteur News also spoke with a number of farmers who were still in the meeting. They shared similar sentiments as their colleagues who left the meeting, saying, “Cash relief is what we want, we lose we crop and we na get money to go back to we land. Right now, only half of the land plant and what the minister do deh is wrong. The issue needs to be raised publicly, we stayed because there are a lot of issue we got. GUYSUCO is being funded by the government with billions of dollars, we want to ask the government if they can produce fertilizer for two crops at least because we can’t stand on we own financially.”

Meanwhile, the Department of Public Information (DPI) said that Minister Mustapha acknowledged the losses faced by farmers due to unfavorable weather patterns and assured that government will be putting systems in place to ensure those farmers are given assistance to return to the land as soon as possible.

“I have a list with the names of farmers who lost as a result of the weather. We are looking at it and we will see how best we can assist them to go back to the land as soon as possible,” the minister noted.

The Agriculture Minister said that the price of paddy for the current crop was a burning concern for many farmers and committed to meeting the Guyana Rice Millers’ Association soon to discuss the matter.

“The main issue today seems to be the price for paddy. Only about 22,000 acres were planted in Region Two for this crop. I will be meeting with the Guyana Rice Millers’ Association on Friday to see if farmers can get better prices for paddy, especially in Region Two. When that meeting is finished, I will communicate with the farmers,” he stated.

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Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha, Anna Regina, Guyana Rice Millers’ Association, Ministry of Agriculture, Rice Producers Association Paddy

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