Winston Jordan last week demanded that government take steps to downsize rice in Guyana. This is the man who was Minister of Finance during the 2015-2020 PNC-led APNU/AFC government when they refused to support rice farmers and when they down-sized SUGAR. The down-sizing of SUGAR was a major reason why people voted to dump the Granger-led, PNC-led APNU/AFC government in 2020. In explaining his reason for supporting the PPP’s no-Confidence motion, the APNU/AFC MP, Charandass, explained how the plight of sugar workers catalyzed his decision to vote for the No-Confidence motion in Parliament on December 21st 2018. Even though much have been said and written about the “down-sizing” of SUGAR as a deliberate effort to kill sugar in Guyana, there was also a robust effort by the PNC-led APNU/AFC to similarly kill rice. Thus, Jordan’s latest plea for government to “down-size” rice represents a continued assault on Guyana’s agriculture and our farmers.
Between 1902 and 1956, rice production gradually increased. After 1956, with the support and policy-directives of the Cheddi Jagan-led PPP government, rice production spiraled upwards reaching 200,000 tons by 1964. Similarly, from mainly a peasant activity and mainly to support domestic use, export of rice became one of Guyana’s main foreign currency earners. This growing importance of rice was sabotaged by the Burnham-led PNC dictatorship after 1968 and by 1990 most of Guyana’s rice farmers were busy developing the rice industry in Suriname and many were working in factories in New York. The rice industry had collapsed in Guyana and, in fact, by 1989, we were accepting gifts of rice from Italy.
No matter how Jordan try to disguise the assault, every rice farmer and every Guyanese who sees agriculture as the foundation of our economy knows that Jordan’s call for curtailing rice production is merely the continuation of his and the PNC’s sick obsession with the idea that agriculture must be killed. He and the PNC mistakenly view agriculture as the “Achilles Heel” of the PPP. This view is what catalyzed their fatal effort to kill SUGAR and why they refused to help rice farmers between 2015 and 2020 when they were in government. This is why Khemraj Ramjattan as a Vice-President stood in Parliament and accused the PPP of wanting the government to support sugar only because the sugar workers vote for the PPP.
Jordan used the fact that paddy price on the global market is significantly down because of bountiful production of rice in many Asian countries between the 2024 – 2025 production period. The drop in global price for rice and paddy is not just for this crop. It actually started prior to the last crop. When millers lowered the buying-price for paddy during the last crop, the PPP government, as it always have done, stepped in and subsidized the price by $300 per bag. The PPP government has already been working with farmers and millers to ensure that there is a reasonable price for paddy this crop.
Like other agricultural commodities, price fluctuation is a reality that farmers and countries live with. When prices drop, there is no reason why farmers must give up. Guyana has an extensive high-quality export market to maintain, one that we have worked hard to create. By 1990, we could not sustain our markets, mainly the European Union and some Caribbean countries. Today, the market has expanded to include the European Union, CARICOM, North America, a number of Latin American countries, such as Panama, Mexico and Guatemala, and even small markets in Africa and the Middle-East. Guyana must maintain these markets and demonstrate we are reliable suppliers, willing to supply the markets in good times and in bad times, when the price is soaring and when the price drops. Guyana’s rice farmers are not just “fair-weather” friends or suppliers; our rice farmers want to retain their status as reliable, high-quality suppliers.
Down-sizing production risk the loss of the markets we have worked hard to obtain. It is short-sighted and exposes the cluelessness of Jordan, the same kind of cluelessness that dictated the failed agriculture policies between 2015 and 2020. While lower prices have serious implications for the welfare of farmers, forcing them to reduce production cannot be the answer. This is especially true at this time when the Latin America and Caribbean markets have opened up more. Twenty years ago, the US accounted for more than 90% of the market. Today, the US as a preferred-supplier has diminished. With global agriculture targeting the removal of subsidies, the US competitiveness with the potential removal of $US25B rice subsidies, there is room for other players and Guyana has an opportunity to play with the “big” boys in the Latin American market.
In contrast to Jordan’s demand to curtail production, the Irfaan Ali-led PPP government, outside of subsiding paddy price, has proposed various initiatives to protect the market and farmers’ welfare. With fertilizer programs reducing the cost of production and other production-cost reduction initiatives, profitability even when global prices drop will help farmers cope with the fluctuating prices on the global market. Among other initiatives is the continuation of introducing higher-yielding paddy varieties, allowing increased production at reduced cost. Another initiative is the establishment of rice silos as storage facilities to store rice when the price is lower or when markets take a downturn. We must not forget the introduction of a government-paid crop insurance program that protect farmers from adverse weather.
The answer is not to stop production, not to down-size, but to create buffers that allow farmers to effectively deal with lower prices in a fluctuating market. The agriculture policies of this government have raised the food-security profile of Guyana while providing assurances to farmers that agriculture remains a viable platform for wealth development.