Guyana to secure additional 10,000 ton rice deal with Venezuela

The Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) is in the process of securing a new deal with neighbouring Venezuela for the export of an additional 10,000 tonnes of rice this year.

Farmers had raised concerns over lucrative rice markets and General Manager of the GRDB, Jagnarine Singh said the board is trying to do just that.

As he prepared to travel to Venezuela on Tuesday to sign a contract for the exportation of close to 260,000 tonnes of paddy for 2015, Singh told this publication in a telephone interview that last year Venezuela bought 250,000 tonnes of paddy from Guyana.

He explained that while the Government is bent on holding on to the preferential markets in Venezuela and the Caribbean, the excess has to go to international markets.

“When we have supplied the preferential markets the excess has to go to Nicaragua and other Central American countries, North America, Europe and other parts of the international market,” Singh said.

However, farmers are not happy with the prices offered on the international market. As previously reported, Rice Producers Association (RPA) President Leekah Rambrich disclosed that there are “more than enough” markets available for Guyana to sell its produce.

However, he cautioned that the prices being paid for rice on other markets are not as lucrative. Rambrich explained that Venezuela pays well for Guyana’s high quality rice and paddy, but other countries are not doing the same.

The Agriculture Minister, along with RPA General Secretary Dharamkumar Seeraj and Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) General Manager Jagnarine Singh visited Panama in August 2014, during which time the agreement was concluded.

While it is expected that the contract will continue throughout this year, further discussions still have to be made for a contract renewal for 2015, which will see 50,000 to 60,000 tonnes of rice being exported to Panama annually.

In 2014, Guyana produced a record breaking 635,000 tonnes of rice. However, last year October, Agriculture Minister Leslie Ramsammy declared that the amount of rice exported up to that point was 401,000 tonnes and he was confident that rice exports for 2015 would surpass 500,000 tonnes.

The Minister has over time stated that whatever rice is left over is to be used domestically during the periods when there is no harvesting.

However, Chairman of the Rice Producers’ Action Committee, Jinnah Rahman and Chief Executive Officer of Alesie Group, Turhane Doerga have both declared that the rice industry is in an unfolding state of crisis.

They are adamant that the access to the lucrative markets is not readily available and as such, small scale farmers are suffering.