The governor of Huila Rodrigo Villalba Mosquera led this Wednesday the delivery of machinery and equipment for nearly $4,000 million to 782 rice producers in the municipalities of Campoalegre, Palermo, Villavieja, and Yaguará, which aims to improve profitability of the rice sector.
Along with coffee farming, fish farming, beans, and cocoa, the department of Huila also stands out as the fourth largest rice producer in the country, with a 7.9% share of the national harvest, equivalent to more than 260,000 tons of rice. green paddy per year, achieved in a planting area of 33,282 hectares.
However, the sector faces several challenges such as competition for cereal income from other countries within the framework of Free Trade Agreements, high production costs, and the effects of climate change, situations that threaten the profitability and sustainability of the industry. productive activity. To address this situation, the Government of Huila has been drawing up actions to contribute to strengthening the chain.
In that sense, Governor Rodrigo Villalba Mosquera delivered machinery and equipment this Wednesday to 782 rice producers in the municipalities of Campoalegre, Palermo, Villavieja, and Yaguará, where the largest production is concentrated, equivalent to 51% of the planted area. with rice from the department, with the purpose of increasing production levels and improving the profitability of rice-growing families.
During the delivery activity, the regional president said that he should aim to improve the competitiveness and sustainability of the rice sector through the adoption of technology, to confront free trade agreements, a purpose that is being fulfilled through different initiatives that are being carried out. from the Ministry of Agriculture and Mining.
“We are finishing generating the productive development model in the department so that public resources are focused, and here there is a central axis that is agroindustrialization and is immersed in the Departmental Development Plan for a Huila Grande, and also in the National Development Plan, that is what we are working on, and today particularly in Campoalegre, capital of the department’s rice cluster, with machinery in which the government has invested important resources so that the department’s rice growers can be more competitive through the implementation of techniques such as micro -leveling, planting in pools to save water and fertilizers; That’s called competitiveness. All of this is focused on agroindustrializing the countryside, but also in the specific case of the rice subsector, it will be competitive in 2030 when the FTA with the United States comes into effect, which means that we are working in the right direction and we are going to continue advancing without saving. efforts from the Government of Huila to strengthen the rice sector.
During this meeting with producers and representatives of the union, held at the Fedearroz facilities in the municipality of Campoalegre, the governor of Huila also highlighted the work that is being developed for the construction of a mill for the collection, drying, and threshing of rice. that will allow producers to be linked vertically in the chain. Likewise, he indicated that efforts are being articulated for the construction of a fertilizer plant, an initiative that has been echoed by the national government, and that will improve the competitiveness of the department’s rice sector.
In turn, the directors of Fedearroz at the departmental and national levels highlighted the work that has been carried out by the Government of Huila in favor of this important subsector through the implementation of technology, and which today allows the incorporation of 17 new machines for the service of producers, contributing to improving the competitiveness and sustainability of productive activity.
Scopes of the project
The project will benefit 204 associates of Fedearroz, from the municipality of Campoalegre, 203 producers from the Asojuncal Irrigation District, from the municipality of Palermo; 64 producers. from the Asoporvenir Irrigation District, of the municipality of Villavieja; 204 producers from the Uso Alfonso Irrigation District, of the Municipality of Villavieja; 45 producers from Asosantana from the Municipality of Yaguará; and 62 producers from the Asolafloresta irrigation district, in the municipality of Yaguará.
Among the machinery and equipment delivered are 6 135 HP tractors, 5 17-jet fertilizer seeders (furrows), 2 taipas with 8 laser discs, 3 multi-blade graders, and 1 brush cutter.
This activity was developed within the framework of the closing of the project “Improvement of the productivity conditions of rice cultivation through the incorporation of technology in the department of Huila”, financed with resources in the order of $3,933,419,115, with which they will be 8,638 hectares impacted.
With the adoption of technology through this machinery specialized in rice cultivation, the aim is to increase rice production by 20%, and reduce costs for machinery rental, and better management of resources (water and agroinputs) thanks to the implementation of strategies such as micro-leveling of the land and planting in pools, which will undoubtedly positively impact the profitability of the business, and the quality of life of producers and their families.
