The president of Brazil, Lula da Silvaannounced this Thursday before the leaders of the Congress that will send a provisional measure to allow the importation of rice from Uruguay and the rest of the countries of the Mercosur (Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia) in order to lower the price of the product in the neighboring country, affected by the colossal floods in Rio Grande do Sul.
The federal government decided to import rice in an attempt to prevent the price of grain from increasing after the rains and floods that devastated Rio Grande do Sul, a state that produces 70% of the country’s cereal.
“Today I send it to the deputy to Arthur Lira to put it to a vote. We are going to have to import rice from Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, to lower the price of rice and beans in this country, which is an essential food for the people,” Lula da Silva stated, Valor Economico reported.
The Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Favarohad anticipated, on Tuesday, that the government intended to allow the purchase of up to 1 million tons of rice to compensate for the failure of the rice harvest. Rio Grande do Sul.
In Uruguaythe producers, however, do not hide their concern about the blow to the rice and soybean crops that the local floodingwhich could worsen in the coming hours according to warnings from Brazil.
The floods in Rio Grande do Sul can “cause impacts” in other countries of the Plata Basinwhich in addition to UruguayArgentina, Bolivia and Paraguay, because “the volume of water passes through cross-border rivers that drain into other territories,” said the Geological Survey Brazilian.
In the case of rice, Uruguay has already managed to harvest 90% of the total area. The remaining 10% represents some 15,000 hectares of cereal whose losses have not yet been able to be quantified.
The president of the Rural Association of Uruguay (ARU), Patricio Cortabarríawarned on Wednesday that there is “an enormous delay in the soybean harvest due to the weather conditions” and said that the situation generates “significant losses for producers.”
At a time when there are several routes cut off due to the climate phenomenon, added to the declaration of road emergencythe ARU insisted in a statement that agriculture “needs to transport production urgently and continuously from the fields,” which is why it assured that the government has “the duty to guarantee the right and conditions of circulation.”
Source: Ambito
