Guyana is pursuing new export markets for rice as global prices remain depressed, the country's agriculture minister said this week, with production for 2026 expected to reach roughly 820,000 tonnes. Zulfikar Mustapha told farmers gathered at the National Track and Field Facility in Leonora that talks were under way with several governments to absorb a growing surplus.

The push comes amid a prolonged glut in world rice markets. Major producers like Malaysia, Indonesia, and India's output have driven down prices globally, necessitating Georgetown to continue providing direct subsidies to support its local sector. The government has already transferred GY$430 million of a planned GY$807 million to the Guyana Rice Development Board this year to cover shortfalls left by lower milling commissions.

A small amount of rice has already been shipped to Haiti, and the government hopes for more expansion after the second crop of 2026 is harvested, according to Mustapha, who stated that talks with Mexico's envoy to Guyana have proceeded. Sales to Cuba continue, he added, alongside efforts to expand within the Caribbean Community, where Jamaica and St Lucia were singled out as buyers taking more Guyanese rice than any other part of the region.

Exports to Europe remain in place but fetch lower prices than other markets, the minister said, which he cited as part of the rationale for seeking buyers further afield.

The subsidy scheme itself has several components. Millers normally pay a commission to the Rice Development Board on exports, and the government is covering that shortfall, worth an estimated GY$650 million to GY$700 million annually. On top of this, farmers receive GY$300 per bag of paddy sold, plus one bag of fertiliser per acre cultivated. Payments are tiered by farm size: those cultivating 50 acres or less receive GY$15,000, while larger operations receive GY$10,000.

Millers are currently paying farmers GY$2,500 per bag of paddy, down sharply from GY$4,000 in 2023. The minister attributed the fall to increased global output rather than any domestic failing.

In Region Three, covering West Demerara and the Essequibo Islands, 560 farmers who cultivated 15,636 acres in the last crop are due to receive a combined GY$401,696,055 under the scheme. Total spending on paddy price support nationally stands at GY$2.763 billion, according to figures released by the ministry.

Mustapha also addressed the cost of land rental, appealing directly to private landowners to stop charging what he called exorbitant rates. He noted that state bodies, including the Mahaica-Mahaicony Abary Agricultural Development Authority and the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission, charge between roughly GY$1,000 and GY$3,500 per acre for land and drainage services, compared with private rents reaching as high as GY$30,000. Lower rents, he argued, would ease pressure on production costs across the sector.

On infrastructure, the minister pointed to seven new pumps installed in Region Three and plans for a large drainage canal modelled on an existing scheme at Hope on the East Coast of Demerara. He also referenced improvements to farm-to-market roads, drone-based fertiliser spraying, and efforts to encourage farmers to diversify into livestock and other crops rather than relying solely on rice.

Mustapha rejected suggestions that paddy or rice was being dumped, saying stored paddy from Essequibo was being retained for milling rather than discarded. He pointed to a storage facility under construction in Onderneeming, Essequibo, in addition to privately owned facilities already in operation. The comments follow reports more than a year ago of farmers on the Essequibo Coast dumping paddy amid earlier market pressures.

Production has risen from 550,000 tonnes in 2020 to 825,000 tonnes in 2025, even as international prices have weakened. While continuing to encourage farmers to lessen their reliance on rice alone, the minister expressed his continued confidence that this year's goal will be reached.