Rice exports rake in US$222.7M for 2019

Guyana’s rice industry has been growing over the years and that growth continued to be evident in 2019, when the sector raked in some US$222.7 million in exports, representing an increase of 20 per cent when compared to the US$186 million recorded in 2018.
According to a press statement from the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), the country exported rice to more than 35 nations in 2019.

The board said 526,617 tonnes of paddy, rice and rice by-products were exported in 2019 compared to 470,312 tonnes in 2018, an increase of 12 per cent.

The largest amount of exports went to Latin American countries, with Venezuela being the biggest buyer of rice from Guyana for 2019. The country purchased 177,682 tonnes, some 34 per cent of all exports. This figure augurs well for Guyana, especially after the country had lost a major market in Venezuela when the Petrocaribe deal between the two countries ended.

According to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Guyana had signed a rice compensation agreement with Venezuela in 2009 wherein Guyanese rice exports were accepted in partial payment for imports of Venezuelan oil.

The IDB said the agreement ended in November 2015 and was not renewed for 2016. The scheme had provided stimulus to the Guyanese rice sector, resulting in higher levels of investments in improved inputs and machinery, an expansion in area cultivated, higher levels of outputs, higher levels of exports, and increased employment. The main incentive was the payment of a market premium, averaging 20 per cent greater than world price.
Since then, Guyana has been able to capitalise on other markets. Figures from the GRDB showed that second to Venezuela in 2019, was Portugal, with a total of 61,873 tonnes of rice being exported to that country, representing 12 per cent of the total amount of rice exported.

Meanwhile, some 69,956 tonnes of rice, valued at US $35 million, was exported to CARICOM countries in 2019. Of this figure, Jamaica and Trinidad were the largest CARICOM importers, importing 32,743 tonnes and 25,417 tonnes respectively.

Guyana exported rice to ten CARICOM countries, namely; Antigua, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Kitts and Suriname.
Another bloc which took in a lot of Guyana’s rice was the European Union (EU). The country exported 214,190 tonnes of rice to the EU in 2019, compared to the 146,092 tonnes shipped in 2018. The 2019 figure represented an increase of 47 per cent. Main importing countries under the EU were Portugal, Italy, United Kingdom and Spain.
Meanwhile, in total some 241,919 tonnes were exported to Latin American countries. Other than Venezuela, the main importing countries were Cuba, Columbia, Honduras and Panama.

As it relates to export by product, white rice was the largest export earner. White rice accounted for 51 per cent of the total amount of rice exported in 2019, earning US $128.1 million. Other products exported were parboiled rice, cargo rice, paddy and bran.
It was reported on Sunday that Guyana produced more than one million tonnes of paddy for 2019, making it the second highest production year for rice in Guyana. With annual average yields increasing steadily and closing 2019 at 5.9 tonnes per hectare, production is expected to continue to increase in the coming years.
According to a press statement from the Ministry of Agriculture, some 1,049,874 metric tonnes of paddy was produced in 2019, 8,254 tonnes short of the record 2015 production of 1,058,128 tonnes.

The recorded productivity of the rice industry is contrary to what was said by sections of the media and prominent persons about the rice sector declining.
“2019 stands as the second highest rice-producing year to date,” said the ministry, adding that Guyana managed to produce a record amount of rice despite the plethora of challenges the industry faced throughout the year.

Among the challenges that the rice industry faced were “extremely unfavourable” weather conditions and some level of pest infestation.

“These challenges were taken head on by the GRDB, which spared no effort in ensuring that the extension and support services meted out to their rice farmers were superior,” said the agriculture ministry.

Not only was production in 2019 close to surpassing the 2015 national record, but production has increased 28 per cent since 2016. This is possible not only by the efforts extended by the GRDB, but also by the “hard work” of farmers.
Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) remained the highest producing region, harvesting 454,476 metric tonnes of paddy; this is equivalent to some 295,4009 metric tonnes of rice. The region recorded a 99 per cent harvesting rate.
The second top producing region was Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), which produced a total of 311,915 metric tonnes of paddy or 202,745 metric tonnes of rice equivalent. This production was the highest on record for Region Six, said the GRDB. According to the board, the region also produced some 4,910,444 bags of paddy, which was equated to a 25 per cent increase in paddy production for East Berbice-Corentyne.

Nationally, some 16,526,024 bags of paddy or 682,418 metric tonnes of rice was produced. 178,628 hectares were sown, thereby equating to 93 bags of rice per hectare or 38 bags of rice per acre.