Guyana ships another batch of rice to Venezuela

Georgetown : Agriculture Minister Leslie Ramsammy visited the John Fernandes Wharf where more than 5,000 tons of rice was being loaded for shipment to Venezuela yesterday.

Venezuela is the largest importer of rice from Guyana. The Minister decleared he will work personally with his counterparts in Venezuela, the Guyana Rice Development Board, the Rice Producers Association, rice millers and farmers to ensure the Venezuela market grows and become well entrenched.

Rice export for the year so far has exceeded 277,000 tons and has earned Guyana more than $US157M so far for 2011. 

Minister Ramsammy is optimistic that rice will be even bigger in terms of production and export earnings in 2011. In this regards, he is presently working with stakeholders to encourage and promote rice cultivation during this crop season. Minister Ramsammy authorised the cleaning of important canals for irrigation purposes in Region 3 and the expenditure of more than $3M for fuel for the Dawa pump in Essequibo, Region 2, to pump water into the irrigation system to compensate for the low rainfall levels in Region 2.