HARVESTING in three of the five rice producing regions in Guyana has been completed, except for 10 per cent of the rice in Region Five (Mahaica/Berbice) and one-fifth of the cultivated acreage in Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne).
Head of the Guyana Rice Producers’ Association (RPA), Mr Dharamkumar Seeraj, told the Guyana Chronicle that 2014 is likely to be a good year for the sector, and the emphasis is on expanding the existing rice markets.
NEW MARKETS
Seeraj disclosed that a team will be visiting Panama this week to examine available options for Guyana to export rice to that country. “The options there look very good for us,” he said.
Moreover, the possibility of expanding Guyana’s rice markets in Europe, which has been a good market for years, is being examined.
Seeraj also said that a third option involves exporting rice to a party in the United States of America (USA). That party has expressed interest in buying rice from Guyana.
“They are talking big numbers, and we have supplied the information they requested; so this is another area we are looking into,” the RPA Head said.
That aside, Seeraj said, shipments continue to Venezuela, Belize and Haiti; the latter two being new markets acquired as of last crop.
Meanwhile, the 2014 rice deal with Venezuela stipulates a shipment of 150,000 tonnes of paddy and 50,000 tonnes of rice, a total of 200,000 tonnes.
Last year, Venezuela took more rice than paddy, with a shipment of 80,000 tonnes of paddy and 120,000 tonnes of rice.
The Ministry of Agriculture has adopted a three-pronged approach to marketing rice. This approach ensures increasing the volume of rice exported by increasing the market share in countries that have agreements with Guyana; re-entering old markets where there once had been a meaningful presence; and securing new markets.
DISLODGED
Seeraj also disclosed that Guyana is increasing its exports to markets that have traditionally belonged to the USA, in particular in Jamaica and Haiti. “We are putting more rice into Jamaica and Haiti, traditionally US markets,” he said.
Last February, the RPA Head had indicated that dislodging the USA as a supplier to the Caribbean region was an element of Guyana’s marketing thrust.
At the end of January, the scope for this endeavour was underscored in an Oryza Global Rice Quotes report. A recognised information source on rice market trends, the report said the sole rice mill in Jamaica completely replaced the United States of America’s (USA) paddy rice with imports from Guyana in 2013.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), according to the Oryza report, said that Jamaica did not import any paddy rice from the USA in 2013, and that was for the first time in recent history.
Traditionally, Jamaica’s rice imports consisted of 20 per cent of the USA paddy rice, but the share of USA paddy rice in Jamaica’s rice imports has been declining in the last five years.
The USDA said Jamaica’s total rice import market remains steady at about 90,000 tonnes. However, the USA paddy rice imported by Jamaica declined by a whopping 93 per cent, from around 46,000 tonnes in 2008 to 3,300 tonnes in 2012, and imports vanished in 2013.
Seeraj made it clear that both the quantity and quality of rice Guyana produces have improved significantly as a result of technology and better agronomical practices; and Guyana has the capacity to supply the rice needs of the Caribbean region.
“If we can dislodge the US as a supplier it will be good for Guyana and local rice farmers,” he said.
Guyana also exports rice to Trinidad and Tobago, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada, the latter to a lesser extent.
VALUE ADDED
Another of Guyana’s major undertaking to ensure expanded markets is focusing on value added rice, Seeraj said. He explained that Guyana is looking into widening the market for its specialty rice, which is similar to the Indian Basmati rice line.
Seeraj said, “The aromatic line that we are developing locally — and the plant breeders here have done a great job — has the potential (to expand) specialised markets.”
Guyana’s aromatic rice, the Bengal Aromatic Rice, was introduced in late 2013, and was developed after years of experimentation at the Agriculture ministry’s rice research facility at Burma in Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara.
Guyana’s aromatic line of rice was researched and developed by a local group of rice researchers led by Dr. Mahendra Persaud at the Guyana Rice Research Centre. The team took about four years to develop the line before allowing the first commercial production.
The rice was harvested by a farmer in Bengal Village, Corentyne who has 60 acres of land, and was packaged by the Ministry of Agriculture.
On introduction, the rice was offered in limited quantities, with an introductory price of $270.
PRICES
The RPA Head said farmers producing the aromatic rice receive a good price for their endeavours. Similarly, cultivators of the rice that is sold to the mill producing parboiled rice on the East Bank of Demerara receive good prices for their endeavours.
Seeraj said: “Some farmers are going to the mill on the East Bank (to sell their produce), which produces parboiled rice, which is higher-priced rice; and (that mill) will pay farmers better than the other markets.
“The prices (obtained at) the regular mills range from $3,500 to $3,700, with those farmers who produce the extra A-grade rice getting the higher prices.”
Millers paying rice farmers for their produce has been problematic, but Seeraj said there has been no complaint to date.
The current crop is expected to come to an end in mid-May, and the production targeted is some 260,000 tonnes.
Some 40,000 people depend directly on the rice industry for their livelihood, and the industry provides employment for at least 20,000; while, in terms of food security, it has helped to secure Guyana’s status as a food-secured country.
Some $500M have been allocated to the rice sector in the 2014 Budget.
The rice industry contributed about five percent of Guyana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2013, and accounted for more than US$240M in export earnings.
Written By Vanessa Narine