Agriculture Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy during a recent visit to Venezuela succeeded in getting manufacturers to agree to supply Guyana with 5000 tonnes of fertiliser. During the recent visit of President Nicolas Maduro to Guyana, a decision was made to extend that previous agreement to two shipments.
As per the new arrangement, the first shipment will see the supply of 5000 tonnes, and another shipment in March next year. Ramsammy said the government has been negotiating with ship owners since the plant itself has an established shipping time.
“Whatever ship you make arrangement with, must fit into that time, so it’s not like they have the fertiliser whenever your ship arrives; your ship has to arrive whenever they are ready,” the minister explained during a recent interview.
The next shipping time is September 23-24 and the ministry was able to put in place a tentative agreement with a shipping company to have a boat at the facility on those days. As a result of the fertiliser deal, Guyanese farmers will be able to get the fertiliser they need at a cost that is significantly below what they are paying now.
Rice farmers, depending on where they are located, are currently paying between Gy$7000 and Gy$10,000 for a 48 kilogramme bag of urea.
Ramsammy posited that, “we are making arrangements for the farmers to get a bag of fertiliser at a cost that is maximum Gy$5000 so that they will save.”
At the moment, the country’s rice farmers require about 20,000 tonnes of fertiliser, which means that this first shipment will make available 25 per cent of their needs. This, the minister said, will ensure that the needs of small farmers are met, while at the same time meeting a portion of the needs of the larger farmers, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported
