Rice planting in Rio Grande do Sul is in the final stretch and conditions for sowing were favorable. Data from the Rio Grandense do Arroyo Institute (Irga) indicate that the area in this harvest should be around 1.07 million hectares. The expectation is that for those who planted at the indicated time, the conditions of the harvest should be favorable. However, the prospect of prices for the harvest, which starts in March, is not encouraging.
According to the president of the Federation of Associations of Rio Grande do Sul (Federarroz), Henrique Dornelles, it is still too early to talk about crop size, because the level of technology used in part of the plantations is unknown. This is due to the decapitalization of the rice producer due to two years of low-paid prices.
For the leader, the current situation of high production costs are already a very strong apprehension among producers. “Federarroz warns that it is not enough to only produce and sell below the cost of production, year after year. Decreasing the crop or even stopping is a management attitude, because when you are in the red, the more you produce, the greater the damage, “he says.
Dornelles points out that the domestic market has been disparaging to those who produce. Any pretext of fragility, ends up contributing to fall prices paid to producers. Thus, even though most of the fundamentals are positive to price strengthening, the retreat happens. “The current situation of rice production is the weakening of the productive sector, the strengthening of retail and the organization of the industrial sector. This has penalized producers, the weakest link, bringing insecurity to families, he notes.
The president of Federarroz reinforces that the entity has a pragmatic stance and a commitment to the people, the producers and their family, and not simply with the rice culture. In this way, it advises producers who are picking up resources for the harvest with maturity at harvest, where prices historically are lower, that do not plan not to increase the loss. “A better example for this is that in the middle of the offseason the market is fragile, despite strong export movements, low transit stock and a future crop equalized with demand throughout Mercosur,” he reports.
The director reminds that due to production costs, where Federarroz predicts a disbursement of 20%, will bring a need for even higher prices than are being billed at this time, around R $ 42.00. “We advise the rice grower who seeks a diversification of business so as not to be hostage to a culture that has not brought much happiness to its entrepreneurs. Thus, it has an obligation to start diversifying in order to take a turn in the future in its business, “he adds, adding that he regretted that the rice product lost value and respect, generating insecurity.
The president of Federarroz emphasizes that the reality of the producers is varied, as there are cases with a total cost of production per bag around R $ 35 and another reality with R $ 50. “Although different, even producing at a higher cost, the producer continues to grow the grain, year after year, without taking any action such as changing the production matrix, cultivation system, rescheduling of the area, or even breaches of contracts. This position has been important only for the industrial or retail sector, which enjoys security of supply and low prices, “he says.
To mitigate the situation, Federarroz is working in search of new markets, especially the African, with the aim of increasing bark exports in the next six months. Dornelles also points out that the productive sector is working to open up new opportunities, such as Mexico, which has some requirements to overcome and soon may be a positive surprise for rice growers.
In addition, the sector is confident of the new Minister of Agriculture, Tereza Cristina (DEM / MS), who has already reinforced in solving the problems related to Mercosur, already claimed by the rice farmers on other occasions. “She has been saying that Mercosur has not served the farmers of Brazil. We expect the questioning of these competitive differences that so much affect the income in the field, “concludes Dornelles.
This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.