Belize market being sought for rice export – GRDB

PaddyGeorgetown: The Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) is hoping to secure markets in Belize to facilitate the exportation of rice and paddy from farmers and millers here.

The Board’s General Manager Jagnarine Singh said the entity is eyeing lucrative markets as part of its marketing strategy and wider efforts to alleviate the problems that are facing the local rice industry and millers.

He admitted that the major problems in the industry are marketing and ensuring timely payment for shipments of the commodity by millers.

Singh also said that although Venezuela and Panama are Guyana’s largest markets for rice, Belize is worth a try and the Board will try to assist.

“Belize wants rice, marketing is an issue and the Board has no control over this… we will try to help. We will try to send 2-3 containers and see what happens,” he reasoned.

Singh told Essequibo farmers that export stands today at 490,000 tonnes with further shipments to be made in the next week before the end of the year.

He nonetheless said, “We are confident of reaching a historic milestone of 500,000 tonnes export for 2014.”

Singh wasted no time in advising farmers that Guyana’s market for rice has been expanded to several countries in the Caribbean, Central America, South America and West Africa.

He said while advances were given to millers by the Government of Guyana to pay outstanding monies owed to farmers, the Board is tasked with the responsibility to see the shipment of rice leave Guyana

“We gave millers money as advances just to assist farmers, the rice didn’t even leave Guyana as yet but we assisted.”

The manager also mentioned that the Agriculture Ministry through the major rice stakeholders also brought in urea at a cheaper cost for farmers.