Rice authorities and industrialists did not reach an agreement to set a new price for rice. The Ministry of Agriculture tries to achieve an agreement between the two positions; Since the farmers ask that the price be set at USD 37.00 for a sack of 200 pounds of unpeeled long grain rice, the industrialists asked that the price of USD 32 be maintained for the long grain and USD 30 for the grain. short, something that producers consider unsustainable.
Previously, with Ministerial Agreement 019, signed on July 23, 2021, an increase in rice prices had already been contemplated. For the removal of the short grain with 20% moisture and 5% impurities, it would cost USD 30; and, the extraction of the long grain with 20% moisture and 5% impurities, would be at USD 32; however, on that occasion the increase was barely USD 1.00 and was driven mainly by the mobilization and blockade of roads in Guayas that took place on July 12, when the rice farmers, tired of receiving no response, decided to protest.
This time, the request of the rice growers is based on productivity, control, production costs, diversification, marketing, post-harvest and financing, in addition to the increase in the costs of inputs for production such as fertilizers and pesticides, while the industrialists appealed to the increase in fuel costs and the lack of sustainability of the commercialization, indicating that the country’s economic situation does not allow a rise in the price that would inevitably translate into an increase for the consumer.
For its part, the Ministry of Agriculture, through a statement, indicated that it will try to organize a new meeting next week and added that: “We are going to work as a team: National Government, producers and industry in technical tables to agree on a fair price. ”.
Additionally, the agricultural sector demanded that the controls aimed at the smuggling of rice from Peru be tightened, where by having a greater number of crops per hectare, costs for the final consumer can be reduced, thus generating unequal competition against rice produced in Peru. the Ecuadorian territory. In Ecuador, for example, the average production of rice is 5.28 metric tons per hectare, while in Peru it is 8.1 tons per hectare, and even reaches 13.7 tons per hectare,
For now, the producers hope that the president of the republic, through his ministers, fulfills the promise he made during the campaign, where he promised that he would set the price of rice at USD 35.00, an offer that has not materialized and that It has already passed through the hands of the former Minister of Agriculture, Tanlly Vera, and is now on the desk of the current representative of this state portfolio, Pedro Álava.
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