Fed up rice farmers are warning that if they are not paid soon by National Flour Mills (NFM) and the Ministry of Agriculture for their crop that has been sold to the company since February, they will “christen” the ministry’s new site at Chaguanas by dumping their harvesters, tractors and farming equipment in front of the building as well as at the Agricultural Development Bank of T&T (ADB) on Henry Street, Port-of-Spain, rather than have them repossessed for defaulting on their loans.
The farmers claim that they are owed millions for their paddy and if their plight becomes even more dire with creditors breathing down their backs, they are also warning that T&T may end up like Venezuela with a food crisis if the country is relying heavily on imports.
Farmers wanted to know what was the future for them in the industry as some were owing millions in loans.
Speaking to the Sunday Guardian on Friday, one farmer said three other rice farmers, two from Central and one from Plum Mitan, had borrowed $10 million combined from the ADB.
He said farmers from Biche, Plum Mitan, Penal, Barrackpore and Navet were depending on the monies from NFM to repay their loans for agricultural machinery and supplies, and also to continue with their rice production.
The farmer said this was affecting their credit rating because their loans were in arrears for more than two years.
According to a farmer, they had several meetings with Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat, Parliamentary Secretary in the ministry, Avinash Singh and the ministry’s Permanent Secretary Joy Persad-Myers to no avail.
He said if no resolution to the farmers’ plight was found soon, they had no other recourse than to take their protest to the streets.
One farmer, who did not want his name publised, claimed there was a Cabinet note for payment to NFM towards the farmers lying on a desk in the ministry since January 2016.
The farmers wanted to know why the $1 million Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP) project for rice development at El Carmen, where all the land preparation, buildings and infrastructure were done already, was not being pursued.
According to rice farmers, under the former People’s partnership government and its previous agriculture ministers, Vasant Bharath and Devant Maharaj, farmers were assisted to get into rice production, with land preparation, seeds, technical support and infrastructural development.
He said that was what motivated farmers to get back into the rice industry and they were still awaiting incentives from this new Government and the ministry for harvesters, tractors, and other machinery and equipment for rice production.
Farmers said there was even a rice production expert from India, Dr GJN Rao, who worked closely with the farmers making recommendations on how to improve their yields and when the PSIP funds were removed, all the grandiose plans for boosting rice production in T&T came crashing down.
They also wanted to know whether NFM had private investors interested in the Carlsen Field rice mill and if there were plans afoot to privatise its operations.
Ramroop: Rice farmers
under a lot of stress
Plum Mitan rice farmer Sarika “Rebels” Ramroop said “the situation is putting us under a lot of stress. Three farmers from Plum Mitan and five from Navet are owed over $1 million combined for their crop.
“Some of them are calling me because their creditors want their money, the farmers are asking what to do as they’re getting the runaround from ministry officials and NFM.
“One farmer told me a ministry official NFM did not give them a list of the amount of their produce and that’s why they can’t proceed with the cheques.”
She said when she messaged the ministry’s Parliamentary Secretary Avinash Singh about the pressure the farmers were getting from their suppliers, he said he had spoken to the ministry’s Permanent Secretary Joy Persad-Myers.
Ramroop asked rhetorically if the Government wanted rice farmers in agriculture but were not paying them, how can they sustain the industry without funding? She said she owed over $15,000 in fertilizer and chemicals, and thankfully, she was still being extended credit for this.
However, her bank instalment was due next month and she was unsure where she would get the money.
Ramroop said she can’t keep borrowing additional money, that farmers desperately needed their payments to service their loans, pay their employees, and she herself had to pay off every three months for her tractor.
A new tractor costs $310,000 and if they had to pay additional interest, the farmers would sink deeper into debt.
Niamath: NFM awaiting disbursement of funds from Agriculture Ministry
In response to the Sunday Guardian’s queries regarding payment to the rice farmers, Pamela Niamath, general manager–Business Support Services of National Flour Mills, said, “You will recall earlier this year, in response to a similar question, we advised of the process for payment.
“NFM sends monthly billings to the Ministry of Agriculture based on the amount of paddy delivered by rice farmers to our Carlsen Field rice milling operations. Upon receipt of funds from the ministry against these billings, NFM then pays this amount to the farmers within two weeks.”
She said currently, the company had made two requests to the permanent secretary of the ministry for paddy received to date in 2016. Niamath said one request was made in March and another in May, totalling approximately $1.5 million. She said NFM was now awaiting the ministry’s disbursement of funds before it can pay the rice farmers.
Regarding if there were private investors looking to buy NFM’s rice mill, Niamath said proposals were requested sometime ago for expressions of interest. However no decision had been made on this.