BRIEFS. agriculture

Rice growers in chiriquí pray for rain

LA PRENSA

dry: The mid-April rain expected by farmers in Chiriquí hasn´t arrived, forcing them to consider paying for irrigation. 1023006

In the Alanje district of Chiriquí, over a hundred rice producers keep looking at the sky and praying that rain will let them start planting their crops. The rains expected in mid-April haven´t arrived, leaving the fields dry and bare.

Generoso Carreño, one of the farmers who pays for use of a Remigio Rojas irrigation system, said he would rather rent his two-hectare lot than plant. "To sow now and use the irrigation system, I would need to pay; that raises my production costs, which is why I prefer to rent land and avoid problems."

The government-funded Remigio Rojas irrigation system was intended for non-traditional export crops, but the drought has forced 300 local rice producers to consider using it, explained Santiago Esquivel, president of the Asociación de Usuarios del Remigio Rojas. So far, only four have made the switch.

Esquivel projected that the price of a quintal of rice could reach $22 this year, owing to the high price of fuel and increases in overhead costs, such as irrigation.