Going from one agricultural emergency for one of the worst droughts in the last 100 years to another caused by floods in the east of the country coming from southern Brazil, Uruguay is going through, once again, the inclement weather that complicates the productive sector.
This week andl Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries (MGAP) declared an agricultural emergency due to excess water, caused by the rains and floods suffered by some of the country’s departments, especially Rocha and Treinta y Tres. The objective of the measure is to offer affected producers the opportunity to access the Agricultural Emergency Fund.
However, as it is a measure taken just days ago, there are still some details to be resolved. In dialogue with Ambit, the General Farm Director of the MGAP, Nicolas Chiesa, assured that the damage caused by the floods still needs to be determined since they are waiting for the water to subside. From there, they will be able to determine the amount of the emergency fund that producers will access.
Livestock, the victim of the floods
Among the most affected sectors, Chiesa assured that the cattle raising It is that it is in the worst moment. “We have completely flooded fields where forage and crops were lost,” he explained and stressed that the declaration of the emergency is intended to try to help livestock producers.
“There are cattle that have nowhere to eat, some producers who had to sell their cattle,” lamented Chiesa. However, according to the Farm Director, it is not all bad news since, thanks to this year’s good harvest, forage prices are competitive and affordable. “Last year there was none and it was very expensive, we even had to import,” he explained.
Regarding the other sectors of agriculture, Chiesa pointed out that there are very few that were affected since rice There was a very minor percentage left to raise from the harvest, while from the soy A little more was lost but the quality is still very good and it would not represent a very great economic damage.
The director assured that the measures that will be part of the agricultural emergency, although he stressed that the livestock sector will be the main beneficiary. “We will probably provide support for the purchase of forage, bales or ration,” explained Chiesa and announced that in the coming days the solutions that the portfolio will provide will be known.
We learn from mistakes
During the month of October 2022, the Uruguayan government declared an agricultural emergency due to a drought that hit the sector causing a loss of more than 1.8 billion dollars. Since 2022, the country has declared four emergencies due to the drought. However, this time we had to do the opposite: position ourselves on alert due to excess water in the fields.
Regarding this, the director of the MGAP He assured that the practice of confronting this type of extreme weather situations that affect the productive sector has caused the government to act quickly. “We acquired a gymnastics in this subject that has caused us to learn to be more efficient and faster,” said Chiesa.
“Last year there was a very strong economic loss due to the drought and today it is due to flooding. From the Executive power “We intend to help the smallest and weakest producers with support so that they maintain their productive capacity while the water goes down,” he stressed and added: “We have put all our efforts to help the producers.”
Source: Ambito
