SindArroz-SC celebrates the quality and productivity of rice harvested in Santa Catarina

With the rice harvest practically completed in the State, the Santa Catarina Rice Industries Union (SindArroz-SC) celebrates the good results obtained in the 2022/2023 harvest, especially with regard to the quality of the grains grown on Santa Catarina soil. Furthermore, productivity was also positive, making the scenario favorable for both producers and companies that process the food.

The harvest, which began planting in mid-August, already has 99,9% of the sown area harvested, according to the Agricultural Bulletin made available by Epagri/Cepa in the second half of May. With approximately 147 thousand hectares already harvested, Santa Catarina producers have currently focused their latest efforts on rice regrowth. Compared to last year, according to the institution's analysis, the grains show good productivity and, in some cases, exceed the average of 220 bags per hectare.

According to the president of SindArroz-SC, Walmir Rampinelli, this year's harvest was not as extended as previous ones, largely due to new machinery that entered the region and equipment with greater productivity. “The producer always needs to remove his product from the fields as quickly as possible and place it in a safe place, so that he can sleep peacefully. So we see this factor as a very positive point in this harvest”, he highlights.

Along the same lines, this year's product can be assessed as being of excellent quality, according to Rampinelli. “The industries are satisfied with the quality of the rice and the producer too, as productivity was good. We had favorable weather, enough water. We were privileged and were able to record a highly positive harvest, with quality products and great profitability, both for the producer and for the industries, favoring the entire chain with good results”, he adds.

Tubarão Region

A more atypical situation in Santa Catarina was recorded in the Tubarão region, which ended up suffering the impacts of a flood recorded between the end of November and the beginning of December 2022. The floods reached around 2,5 thousand hectares, destroying the production of 14% of the planted territory in the locality.

Replanting was carried out in the region between December and January, and the rice grown since then has been harvested and should maintain the quality of the grain, with only a productivity around 5% lower than that recorded in the last harvest.