Senior Reporter
shaliza.hassanali@guardian.co.tt
Hours after majority state-owned National Flour Mills (NFM) informed rice farmers of a proposed $0.50 price cut per kilogramme of Grade 1 rice paddy, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Ravi Ratiram intervened and reversed the decision.
The farmers were told they would be paid by NFM $2.99 per kilogramme for Grade 1 rice paddy instead of the original $3.49 a kilogramme yesterday morning by NFM’s chief executive, Ian Mitchell, at a meeting in Chaguanas.
The NFM buys the farmers’ rice at a guaranteed price. They told Guardian Media that no reason was given for the proposed price slash. It left them angry, as they expressed concern and worry about the future of the rice industry should there be a new price adjustment.
Long-standing rice farmer Fazal Akaloo, who attended the meeting, said the farmers were taken by surprise by the news, as they had planned to discuss rice production and seed availability when the issue of the price adjustment suddenly came up.
“It was a complete shock to us,” said Akaloo, who added that a reduction in the price of rice to the farmers would bury the sector.
He said the UNC government had given a commitment to improve the industry, while NFM also endorsed production by offering formal contracts to rice farmers and introduced an added incentive payment for Grades 1 and 2 rice paddy in 2023.
There are only 40 rice farmers in the country.
The farmers produced 445,300 kilogrammes of rice in the first six months of 2024 and doubled this figure last year.
Following the meeting, a contingent of rice farmers visited Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Ravi Ratiram’s office in Chaguanas to raise their concerns.
Akaloo said Ratiram assured them that “the board of directors of NFM did not make any decision” to slash the price.
Ratiram promised to deal with the issue. Less than two hours later, Ratiram informed Akaloo the decision to cut the paddy price had been reversed.
