Two days after the protests were generated, The Government continues with the dialogue table with the three associations that represent rice farmers in the national territory, who demand more support from the State and who do not withdraw the storage incentive.
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In the recent meeting held on Wednesday, the Vice Minister of Agricultural Affairs, Aura María Duarte and the spokespersons for the Dignidades Agropecuarias, Fedearroz and Induarroz collectives, showed interest in reaching a consensus for the upcoming rice harvest.
However, for now the Ministry of Agriculture reiterated the support for $20,000 million for the surpluses in the harvest of the second semester.
“One of the conclusions of the meeting points to having figures for paddy rice inventories and planted areas in the first half of 2023 to reach agreements that allow a reference price for national rice producers”, indicated the Ministry of Agriculture.
With the figures for the first week of July on the cereal, they will seek to analyze the economic panorama of the union to advance in the reference price agreements that benefit Colombian producers and consumers.
“It was agreed to advance in the development of solutions that have been implemented and others contemplated in the Productive Management Plan and studies of the sector with a view to improving the competitiveness of the sector in the short and medium term “the ministry pointed out.
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Nevertheless, The representatives of the farmers, such as Fedearroz, from the beginning of the protests made it known that the designated economic support is not enough to keep the sector standing.
The Dignidades Agropecuarias association reported that without having the harvest yet, production costs are very high, which is why the large milling industry has reduced prices by more than 22%.
Given this scenario, farmers from the departments of Cesar and La Guajira declared their full support for the union.