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Rice
Imports
To
Increase,
National
Production
To
Decrease
The
importation
of
rice
will
increase
from
20%
to
40%
and
domestic
production
will
fall
from
80%
to
60%.
This
is
the
agreement
reached
by
the
sector
to
facilitate
the
entry
without
quota
problem
agreed
in
the
Free
Trade
Agreement
(FTA)
with
the
United
States.
The
president
of
the
rice
producers
association,
Oscar
Campos,
said
there
is
an
agreement
for
a
drop
in
national
planting,
but
remains
the
question
who
should
lower
the
number
of
hectares.
Indeed,
this
forms
part
of
the
discussions
on
the
draft
amendments
to
the
Ley
de
la
Corporación
Arrocera
Nacional
(Conarroz)
-
Law
of
the
National
Rice
Corporation
-
which
poses
a
quota
system.
Conarroz
statistics
indicate
that
52%
of
the
national
crop
is
owned
by
72
producers,
who
own
200
acres
or
more
classified
as
large,
while
22%
is
by
small
farmers,
who
possess
1 to
50
hectares
and
representing
187
farmers.
Under
the
agreement,
the
quotas
would
be
defined
by
Conarroz.
"We
have
to
take
away
some
of
the
cake
from
the
big
guys",
Campos
said,
adding
that
there
isn't
an
overproduction
right
now,
but
a
peak
harvest.
To
date,
the
industry
has
imported
50.000
tons
from
the
United
States.
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