Ecuador: The rice that does not calm hunger

They feed Ecuador, but they suffer from hunger. The rice growers are mired in an unsolvable crisis, and they expect a catastrophe in the coming harvest. The intense yellow of the cereal plants preferred by Ecuadorians, beautifies the fields of the cantons closest to Guayaquil, but its brightness today does not mean prosperity, since those who produce it are experiencing one of their worst crises due to low prices. “In the first week of September, the harvest begins to come out in the Babahoyo (Los Ríos) areas. And as we go, we expect a price between 18 and 15 dollars per bag of 200 pounds in shell ”, predicts Andrés Moncayo, who gives an account of the deterioration that the sector has suffered in recent years. The support price is $ 30 for short grain and $ 32 for long grain. That value is fictitious: nobody pays it. In the last two months, producers have closed the roads in the main areas at least four times: Nobol, Daule, Santa Lucía, Samborondón, Salitre, Yaguachi, Puerto ...