GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – Guyana has recorded a seven percent increase in rice production this year compared to 2022, earning nearly GUY$50 billion (One Guyana dollar=US$0.004 cents).
The country also recorded a significant increase of 28 percent or 13,155 metric tonnes in sugar production compared to 47,049 in 2022.
“In 2023, we saw a seven percent increase in paddy production, which translates to the production of 653,706 metric tons. That is a 43,111 metric tons increase in the production in 2023 compared to 2022 production of 610,595,” said Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha.
He said one of the significant achievements for sugar is the reopening of the Rose Hall Sugar Estate in September 2023.
“Sugar production in 2023 closed at 60 204 metric tonnes, a 28 percent or 13,155 metric tonnes increase compared to 47,049 metric tonnes in 2022. The industry replanted 52 percent more land in 2023, a total of 4,020 hectares, compared to 2,640 hectares in 2022.
“We will be seeing less and less dependency from the government in terms of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) revitalizing and bringing back GuySuCo at that point that we want it to achieve. We have seen a 22 percent decrease of funding that we requested from the government in 2023 compared to 2022.”
Guyana has also registered 54 percent of sugar production, marketed as packaged sugar, in 2023, compared to 48 percent in 2022.
“We have launched two new value-added packaged brands. One is the Albion Gem, and the other is the Demerara Gold Sugar Stick Sachet,” said Mustapha, telling reporters that the government has employed 4,692 new employees in the sugar industry.
The total number of workers in GuySuCo at the end of 2023 is 8,294 persons.
Over the next two years, Mustapha said that the government would convert over 5,000 hectares of land to have mechanization in harvesting and mechanical loading.
“We are seeing a revitalization of the sugar industry, and we are seeing more and more people benefitting.”
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