From the agricultural sector, responsibilities have been delimited to small rice producers after the rise in the price of rice in the markets and in stores, where traders assure that the quintal dropped from $32 last week to $52 this week, increasing the price of a pound of rice to $0.70.

Luis Pilalot, coordinator of the National Federation of Rural Social Security Branches (FEUNASSC), assures that the price increase is “a manipulation of the large agro-industrial sectors that take advantage of this El Niño phenomenon, which is coming, to cause an increase in costs”.

“They should check the rice mills now,” rice producers are asking ahead of a price hike that prompts end-consumer complaints

He confirmed that those who control silos and large warehouses where grass is stored are agro-industrialists. “It is not a small farmer who does not have the capacity to store rice, because the farmer sells it directly,” explained Pilalot, who assured that it is from this part of the chain that the alleged speculation originates.

The situation occurs when the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) has not yet set a new minimum support price (MSP) for grass that is still being sold with the price set in July 2022 at $32.50 for a 220-pound bag of short grain rice and $34.50 for long grain rice.

However, Pilalot admitted that in recent months, piladoras have been paying more for a bag of rice than 220 pounds to rice farmers.

“While it is true that the reference price of rice is $32 and $34, there has been a slight increase in recent months, paying $40, $45 for a 220-pound bag, this has allowed the economy to improve small producers, but this is not sustained, it is not that the price of paddy rice has skyrocketed”, warned the host, who confirmed that this increase does not justify the price of a quintal of rice rising.

In Guayaquil, up to $0.70 is offered for a kilogram of rice: The municipality is trying to stop speculation with controls

However, this minimum support price applies to producers at the time of placing the product on the sawmill market; and not to the final consumer; although the increase in the price of rice was also reflected in inflation last May, which amounted to 0.09%, and grass leads the list of products with the highest representation among food and non-alcoholic beverages.

Procedure:

Answer of the Ministry

The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock assures that there is no technical justification for the price increase, although it has admitted that rice production is affected by the winter season.

Nevertheless, this state portfolio confirmed that 280,000 hectares of rice are sown annually in two cycles and that for May production of 90,000 tons is estimated to meet the national demand. However, he pointed out that 18,000 hectares of rice fields were affected by floods and did not rule out the import of rice to guarantee food sovereignty.

Pilalot also assured that with production on 280,000 hectares, “there is no need for an increase in prices”.

The Ministry of Agriculture points out that there is no technical justification for the increase in the price of rice

This newspaper sought out representatives of the National Corporation of Rice Producers (Corpnoarroz) and the Corporation of Rice Producers of Ecuador (Corpcom). Juan Pablo Zúñiga, president of the latter union, indicated that the industrial sector will have an official statement on the situation in the afternoon of this Thursday, June 15. Now we are working to ensure that the decisions that are made are as accurate as possible, said the leader.

Meanwhile, there was no response from the producer sector represented by Corpnoarroz until the close of this issue.