Significant improvement from the $30 billion in 2020
Guyana’s rice industry has proven its resilience, reaping $40 billion (US$189,232,690) from the export of 412,810 tonnes of rice for the period January to November 2021.
This is a significant improvement from the $30 billion (US $144,178,325) earned relative to the corresponding period in 2020. This feat is remarkable, as it occurred despite the COVID-19 pandemic and recent floods.
The floods, though devastating across some sectors, mildly affected Guyana’s rice sector. Some 200,000 acres of rice were sown from January to June but by the time the floods came in July, rice farmers had managed to harvest almost 95 per cent.
However some 3,000 acres were lost. Guyana’s rice production as at December 26, 2021 stood at 886,882 tonnes.
Additionally, in that same period, Guyana managed to secure new international markets were established in the British Virgin Islands and Slovenia with exports of 12 million tonnes and 250 million tonnes of rice delivered. Guyana currently supplies 37 foreign markets with rice.
The Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) is looking ahead to 2022 with sowing for the first crop currently ongoing and has been providing technical advice on crop management to low-yielding farmers to increase their productivity of paddy cultivation.
A major focus of the GRDB is on the strengthening of the post-harvest and value-added capabilities of the rice industry in the New Year.
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