ECD farmers moving to purchase machinery with VAT removal
Thirty-six-year-old rice farmer Mr. Rayad Bacchus has welcomed the new measures implemented by the PPP/C administration to put money back into the pockets of rice farmers to stimulate productivity.
Mr. Bacchus is one of the many fieldmen who cultivate rice for their livelihood at Cane Grove, East Coast Demerara.
He lauded the Government’s removal of the value-added tax (VAT) on machinery needed for his business, as well as the reversal of land rent fees.
The farmer told DPI on Wednesday that he always wanted to purchase a “four-wheel drive tractor”, but was unable to do so previously “because of the price and the VAT added to it”. [With the] removal of the VAT, I see it a little more reasonable on my side to acquire it. I should be able to go ahead and purchase my tractor and it will save me a lot of money,” he said.
Rice farmer Rayad Bacchus 
Hakim Allim, rice farmer
However, Mr. Bacchus believes that delaying the purchase of the tractor because of costs, has set back his production goals.
“I wasn’t able to do more of the kind and quality of work I wanted to do in the fields. I had to pay someone to do my ploughing and that was in excess of $350,000,” he explained.
Improper drainage was another hindrance, he said, adding that “Sometimes it is not in a timely manner and sometime it [the service] is poor.”
Loading harvested paddy into a truck at Cane Grove 
During the harvesting session at Cane Grove 
Harvesting rice at Cane Grove
While in the back dam, DPI caught up with Mr. Hakim Allim who believes that everything in the rice sector went downhill over the past four years. Mr. Allim, who also cultivates rice at Cane Grove said, “It was tough. Some farmers could not have met their targets, reinvest, purchase new machinery. Access to capital was also another issue because everything was contracted.”
Classifying himself as a ‘small farmer,’ he praised as timely the new measures the Government has put in place.
“We have been looking forward for assistance. This help is like saline in the vein of a dying person. So once these measures are implemented it will definitely be a plus for us,” he said.
The Government in its 2020 Budget reversed to 2014 rates, the land lease fees for lands under cultivation, land taxes and drainage and irrigation charges. The VAT on equipment, pesticides and fertilisers were also removed.