Government officials in Guyana are opposing Jamaica's move to buy rice from the U.S. insisting that they have enough rice to supply to Jamaica's domestic market.

Guyana's Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud said that Guyana has sufficient rice to avoid a repeat of the supply shortfall last year, when Jamaica bought about 17,000 MT (15,400 MT) from the U.S.

Guyana is the Caribbean's largest producer of rice. It sells a fifth of the 300,000 MT (270,000 MT) it produces yearly to Jamaica.