Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha has stated that Government cannot control the increase in prices for rice in the supermarkets but assures that there is sufficient supply to meet the demands of both local and foreign markets.
He made this comment during the consideration of an $8.5 billion Financial Paper in the National Assembly on Friday. This sum was advances made from the Contingency Fund for the period April 1 to July 30, 2024.
Mustapha was grilled on a $524 million subvention to the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB). He was asked by Opposition Member of Parliament, Vinceroy Jordan, about the industry’s capability to meet both local and foreign demands.
“I met yesterday (Thursday) with GREMA – the Guyana Rice Exporters and Millers Association and they assured me that there is enough rice in the system for export and local consumption,” the minister noted.
In fact, he went on to disclose that during the first crop of this year, some 362,040 tonnes of rice were produced. The agriculture minister is confident in achieving the 710,000 tonnes production target that was set for 2024.
In light of the minister’s response, the Opposition MP further questioned Mustapha about the increase in the cost of rice in the local market – a situation that the agriculture minister contended was not caused by any shortages.
“That is why I met with the millers [on Thursday]. They assured me that the price remained the same, and that is not a supply problem. We have enough [to] supply… We are living in a market economy and we can’t put a controlled price on the supermarkets but I asked the millers to put a recommended price, which they will do… The point is that we don’t have a shortage of rice locally or for exports,” the minister explained.
The funds sought, which were eventually approved in the National Assembly, were to replenish the GRDB account after government first reduced the commission paid by millers by 25 per cent to cushion the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and then subsequently removed it completely for a four-month period last year so that rice farmers got a higher price for their paddies.
While the commission was removed from April to August 2024, the agriculture minister disclosed that it has since been restored and there are efforts now to gradually increase the commission from the current 75 per cent back to the full 100 per cent cost.
“We are working here with a supply-chain management, [but] we are working with the millers. As a matter of fact, only yesterday [Thursday] I had a meeting with GREMA and the millers assured me that seeing we’re having now increase in production, we will try as much as possible to go back to normalcy,” Mustapha stated.
Meanwhile, this $524 million shortfall at GRDB accounts for $404.8 million in employment cost, $42.9 million for materials and supplies, $11.1 million for utilities, $21.7 million for out of crop maintenance, $43.3 million for field operations.
According to the agriculture minister, there were certain circumstances such as paddy bug infestations, irrigation issues and even the impact of the El Niño phenomenon, among others, that needed urgent attention hence the money had to be spent on addressing them.
Only earlier this week, Mustapha disclosed that Guyana’s rice sector had generated a whopping US$127 million already for the year even as production continues to increase. Last year, the industry earned US$212 million.
