Rice producers in the province of Guayas participated this Wednesday in a meeting with the President of the Republic, Lenin Moreno, the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Xavier Lazo Guerrero, and the general manager of BanEcuador, Rafael Silva.

During the meeting, held at the Experimental Bowling Station of the Institute of Agricultural Research (INIAP), the producers received specialized credits from the financial institution and highlighted the good moment that this item is going through in terms of productivity and marketing, with a rebound in prices ranging from USD 32 to USD 34 per quintal, compared to the minimum support that is USD 29.

The farmers - from traditionally rice-growing towns in the province such as Santa Lucía, Yaguachi, Taura, Roberto Astudillo and Marcelino Maridueña - agreed that actions already implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), such as promoting exports, development of genetics in rice, and a specialized credit policy, will be key to maintaining the good performance shown by the sector in the last harvest.

“There are always better ways of doing things; You know that by doing well, acting responsibly, you can become excellent rice producers, an essential product at the table for all Ecuadorians, ”said President Lenin Moreno.

He took the opportunity to thank the producers “because they never stopped working. Even during the emergency they did not stop their activity. This allowed the rice corridors that you produce through the logistics corridors to reach the Ecuadorian table on a daily basis. That makes them heroes, "he said.

Minister Xavier Lazo, and at the same time Chairman of the Board of BanEcuador, assured that the agricultural sector, "the real oil", is going to move the country forward and indicated that situations like these allow us to understand that the productive essence is in rurality, and that we have to do better now.

As part of the event, producers Nancy Gavilánez and Florencio Tomalá received checks from the authorities for USD 15,000 and USD 5,000, money that they will use for infrastructure improvement and for summer planting, respectively.

Lazo said that the delivery of loans is made to producers who are trained, who understand that there is a public credit policy in place, which uses a strengthened Guarantee Fund, rate trusts that are already in the process of being executed, to decrease the interest rate for productive assets, which will allow us to be more competitive at a lower cost ”.

Last year, Ecuador reached a production of 1.6 million tons of rice. The greatest activity is concentrated in Guayas, with 74% of the national production.

The importance of this item in the development of agriculture on the Ecuadorian Coast means that, from May 2017 to June 2020, BanEcuador has delivered more than USD 63.2 million to micro, small and medium-sized rice businesses to strengthen the different links of the grass chain: sowing, harvesting, and marketing.

In addition, during the health emergency, the placement directed to the rice activity has reached 716 operations, between original credit and debt settlement, for a total of 3.5 million dollars.

For now, MAG is focused on strengthening exports, as a way to lessen pressure on the local market and maintain grass prices. According to data from the Central Bank of Ecuador, between January and March of this year the country exported 23,771 metric tons of the product to Colombia and Spain, with a port value of over USD 17 million.

On the other hand, to improve productivity, INIAP has projects such as the Rice-Duck, which incorporates the production of animal protein in the crop, and works on the development of improved seeds from research, which will of the rice sector a motor in the Ecuadorian economy.