| The Chief Spokesperson of the Rice Producers’ Association Action Committee (RPAAC), Jinnah Rahman,Wholesale Jerseys, has said that despite the fact that rice harvesting has commenced in Essequibo, Wakenaam, Berbice, Leguan and some parts of the West Coast Demerara, rice millers have not yet agreed to a fixed price, which they will pay the rice farmers for their paddy.“The Rice Industry faces a massive crisis and rice farmers are producing rice at starvation wages,” he said.The Co-Chairpersons of the Guyana Workers and Farmers Action Committee and the General Secretary of the Guyana Trades Union Congress, Norris Witter, echoed these views.According to Rahman and Witter, there would be serious spin off effects, such as a high level of unemployment and underemployment in the rural areas and among some sections of the urban workers, if rice cultivation were drastically reduced.The Guyanese consumer will pay more for rice in the shops, unless the price of paddy goes up to $5,000 or $6,000 per bag, opined Rahman and Witter.The two have also pointed fingers at the official organ of rice farmers, the Guyana Rice Producers Association (GRPA), saying that despite the current crisis in the rice industry, the GRPA has remained silent.In a letter to this newspaper, Rahman said that “the elected officials have allowed the General Secretary of the organisation, an employee, to play silly politics with the livelihood of thousands of farmers, whose main means of existence is rice farming.”The GRPA, said Rahman, continues to blame the global economic crisis for the low prices of paddy and has offered no solution to the problems facing farmers.He added that in recent times, many rice farmers have complained about the low price – less than $2,000 per bag – that is being offered to them. This price is far below the cost of production.He added that the cost of the production of one acre of paddy is approximately $100,000 and will amount to the loss of some $50,000 for each acre that is cultivated. The average yield, per acre, is 25 bags. With that in mind, each acre of paddy, which is cultivated, will yield a total of $50,000.Due to this, rice farmers all over Guyana, continue to experience the disheartening situation of not being paid the fair price for their paddy. |
