Rice producers fear not being able to sell their rice harvest because of the entry of rice from countries such as Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay at much lower prices than local ones.
"At great risk are 60,000 hectares of rice, for which there is no known market for this production because Costa Rica is being invaded by milled rice imports from southern countries (Argentina and Uruguay)," said the new President of the National Assembly of Rice Producers, Domingo González. "
Between 2008 and 2013 the size of areas sown with rice in the north of the country increased by 92% and in the Caribbean coast they declined by 86%.
The moisture level of the soil together with other related factors to climate and characteristics of each area have led rice farmers to shift the main areas of cultivation from the Atlantic region to the Northern region.
This time it was U.S. representatives who in a bilateral meeting expressed their anger to their Costa Rican counterparts over the excessive subsidy to rice farmers.
In 2010 $109 million was awarded in subsidies to the rice sector, a figure that exceeds by 700% the limit established in the Agreement on Agriculture by WTO.
"The meeting was chaired by the USA when the Committee on Agriculture of the WTO met, in which some 70 countries warned Costa Rica about incompliance", noted an article in Nacion.com
Starting January the 73.6 kg. bag will cost producers ¢ 20,050 ($ 39.3).
Producers had proposed a price of ¢ 21,372 ($ 41.89).
Oscar Campos, president of the National Assembly of Rice Producers, said that in exchange for a reduction in the price, the Government was to implement a program to improve competitiveness until 2020.
Oscar Campos, from Nacion.com, reports about the program "...
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