Data contradicts the federal government, which even held an auction to ensure food supply in the country
O Irga (Instituto Rio Grandense do Arroz) announced on Friday (June 14, 2024) the end of the rice harvest in Rio Grande do Sul. According to the institute, 7.16 million tons of cereal were produced in the 2023/2024 harvest. The harvest was above estimates before the floods and would eliminate the need to import food.
“In the 2023/2024 harvest, 900,203 hectares of irrigated rice were sown, with 851,664.22 hectares harvested, corresponding to 94.61% of the sown area, with an average productivity of 8,410.21 kilos per hectare”, said Irga in note.
“1,548 hectares (0.17%) are still in the harvesting process. With the floods recorded in the State, 46,990.59 hectares were lost, which corresponds to 5.22% of the sown area, and are mainly concentrated in the central region of the State”, he added.
For comparison, in the 2022/2023 harvest, 839,972 hectares were sown, with a total production of 7.24 tons, said the body linked to Seapi (Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Sustainable Production and Irrigation) of the State of Rio Grande do Sul.
According to Irga, the numbers show that the country does not need to import rice, as the federal government defends. “Data from this harvest prove what Irga has already been saying since the beginning of May, that the Rio Grande do Sul rice harvest, within its share of production in the Brazilian market, guarantees the country’s supply and there is, technically, no justification for importing rice in Brazil”, said the president of the institute, Rodrigo Machado.
The interim secretary of Seapi, Márcio Madalena, stated that the numbers from the last harvest exceed, “with small margin”, the secretariat’s estimates before the floods that hit the State. “This gives us confidence to maintain the position that there has never been a technical justification to prove the trend of rice shortages in Brazil”, he reinforced.
Auction
A Conab (Companhia Nacional de Abastecimento) held an auction on June 6 to ensure the supply of rice in the country due to the losses caused by the floods in Rio Grande do Sul. The State accounts for around 70% of the national production of the grain. At the end of the event, 263 thousand tons of rice would be purchased.
The list of auction winners, however, drew attention: of the 4 winners, 3 were not import companies. Only one, the Zafira Trading, in fact operates in the foreign trade segment. Among the other 3 companies, there is one that sells cheese in Macapá (AP), a juice manufacturer in São Paulo and a car rental company located in Brasília. The 4 companies would receive a total of R$1.3 billion. Read the complete of the minutes with the names of the winners (PDF – 41 kB).
On Tuesday (June 11), however, the event was cancelled. According to the president of Conab, Edegar Pretto, the government will hold a new auction, with no date set yet.
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