The rice farmers of the department of Rocha They warned of million-dollar losses due to floods during the harvest, which left the fields of rice close to Cebollatí River under water and make the work of producers in the area impossible.
Modesto Silvaowner of one of the fields, explained to Telenoche that of the 800 hectares in which he planted riceabout 300 are under water, and of these only approximately “about 80 hectares” can be rescued.
However, he recalled that the situation in the departments of Thirty-three and Rocha “is increasingly difficult”, so even less could be rescued rice than was anticipated.
In numbers, the rice producer assures that the situation “is unprecedented” and that some 60,000 bags of rice were lost in his field. ricewhich is equivalent to 1 million dollars, a figure that will take them between 4 and 5 years to recover.
Another of the affected areas is around the Merin lagoonwhich suffered the consequences of the catastrophic rains in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil)and where it is estimated that there are already some 16,000 hectares of crops affected.
The countryside, from the emergency due to water deficit to the emergency due to flooding
As a result of this, in May the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries (MGAP) decreed the agricultural emergency due to excess water in the east of the country.
The emergency applies to some police stations in the departments of Rocha (2 A, 3 A, 4 A, 5 A, 6 A and 9 A), as well as for others in Treinta y Tres (1 A, 2 A, 3 A, 7 A, 9 A and 10 A). Producers included in those territories will be able to access the Agricultural Emergency Fund.
In October of last year, the situation of rice farmers in Rocha was exactly the opposite, since they estimated that “thousands” of hectares would remain unplanted due to water scarcity.
“Unfortunately, (the rains) are not enough to complete the dam from which we draw water to irrigate the rice“, he then detailed Garcia Richia local producer.
Source: Ambito
