The Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries considered that the effects continue to impact rural production and the economy.
He Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries (MGAP) decided to extend for another three months the agricultural emergency in Uruguay which has been in force for almost a year, due to the impact that the drought has had both in the economy and in many productions. “Although the causes are being reversed, the effects are not yet,” said the head of the portfolio, Fernando Mattos.
As expected from the authorities’ statements in recent days, the government defined a new extension of the agricultural emergency that was originally sanctioned on October 24, 2022 for three months. At that time, the continuity of the drought —and its deepening— led to a first extension being decreed on January 24 for 90 days; while the second extension occurred on April 24, for another 150 days—five months.
With the new provision, the current aid conditions for agricultural producers affected by the water emergency will remain in force until at least December 24.
The decision was made after a meeting between the MGAP and the Agricultural Emergency Advisory Group, in which data on precipitation throughout the country was analyzed. As Mattos explained in a press conference, although the water levels are moving towards “normality”, there is “still a lack” of rain to finish reversing the crisis caused by the drought.
The objective of the extension of the agricultural emergency is that the producers included in the different assistance can continue using the tools generated by the government to continue rearranging their activities.
Assistance to producers
The owner of the MGAP appreciated the measures that the government took at the height of the crisis drought, with a total of 20,000 direct aid for a total of 13,500 producers. “Our duty was to alleviate the situation so that they remain on their feet, that no producer is left behind and to continue forward on the path to recovery,” he said.
At the same time, he spoke of the contrast with last year, in which a “record of exports and prices rarely seen.” However, he said that the government was able to “manage the conspiracy of productive failure with the rise in costs and the fall in prices.”
Source: Ambito
