Floods in RS cause damage to rice crops

The rains that are ravaging Rio Grande do Sul, especially the Western Border and central Depression, are harming the establishment and development of rice crops. In several regions, there are already reports of losses both due to river flooding and due to the abnormal and punctual volume of precipitation. The sector had already been suffering from problems caused by El Niño, which was the reason for the extension of the planting period authorized by the Ministry of Agriculture, but some areas were not able to be completed and will inevitably have a negative impact on the next official harvest forecast bulletins.

The Federation of Rice Growers Associations of Rio Grande do Sul (Federarroz), through the mayor of Uruguaiana, Luiz Fuhrmann Schneider, delivered a document to the President of the Republic, Dilma Rousseff, who was inspecting the damage in the region, asking for support for producers affected by the problems caused by excessive rainfall. "We ask her for her support and testimony when Federarroz takes the reports and suggestions to the Ministry of Agriculture to seek measures that can mitigate the severe losses expected. We will inevitably need support in equalizing financing and charges, in addition to a longer period of payment to some producers, with the aim of keeping them compliant and in activity", highlights the entity's president, Henrique Dornelles.

The director states that the reports of problems in crops are as diverse as possible, from cases of producers who replanted the same crop three times to others who had the foresight to plant in higher areas, which are unlikely to be affected, but nevertheless the floods managed to reach the plantations. "The volumes of rain in the case of Alegrete were not that large. However, those that occurred in the headwaters of the Uruguai, Ibirapuitã and Ibicuí rivers were extremely high", he explains.

The Central Depression also suffers from the floods of the Jacuí River and its tributaries. A region of small farmers, there was a high number of crops affected in their entirety. The president of Federarroz emphasizes that it is still necessary to wait to assess the damage, but believes that it will be significant, resulting in a reduction in overall production. "We have crops affected by floods in the most varied stages, from recently planted to others entering the reproductive stage. This will depend on the time it takes for the water to leave so that we can have a more accurate diagnosis", he says.

The director remembers that this is a year in which producers are decapitalized, coming from a disappointing marketing period in the first half of 2015, where many had to sell their production at a price of R$ 32,00 per bag and are now facing these adversities with very high production costs. "What worries Federarroz most is that any loss increases the unit cost per bag. We are working with extremely high costs, Conab's minimum price that does not represent reality with direct interference in possible agricultural insurance compensation, a tendency for productivity to fall and production area, important variables that will inevitably compromise income in the field, regional economies and possibly future harvests, due to the migration of rice cultivation areas to other crops", he observes.

The floods are harming the population of the Central Depression and Western Border of Rio Grande do Sul. In this last region alone, it is estimated that at least 1,8 families have been affected. In one week, the volume of rain was estimated at 500 millimeters, causing river floods and flooding in rural and urban areas of at least 38 municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul, in addition to the collapse of bridges and damage to unpaved local roads that serve to transport production. .

Reports from producers are of concern. In Rosário do Sul, the Santa Maria River is 8,5 meters above normal. Like the Ibicuí da Armada River, both flow through the municipality and most of the rice and soybean areas are on their banks. Some dams and also uplifts were destroyed. In Uruguaiana and Barra do Quaraí, the rivers Uruguay, on the border with Argentina and Quaraí, on the border with Uruguay, are 10,8 meters above normal, covering many areas of rice and soybeans.

In Restinga Seca, the Jacuí, Vacacaí and Vacacaí Mirim rivers registered major flooding, causing damage mainly in the soybean areas in the floodplain. In Alegrete, the flood is already considered one of the biggest in history, leaving many rice fields submerged and rural communities isolated. And in Cachoeira do Sul, the flood on the Fandango Dam bridge reached 25,7 meters. There is also a risk of bridges collapsing in the municipality, such as Várzea do Castagnino, on BR-153, which has been closed.