The Agrupamento de Produtores de Arroz do Vale do Sado (Sado Valley Rice Producers Group) has warned today of the sector’s difficulties, with losses of around €40 million due to sales prices below the cost of production. According to the group’s president, João Reis Mendes, the selling price of rice “went from €550/tonne in the previous agricultural year to €350 this year (…) we’re producing below cost price, when producers haven’t lowered the cost of production per hectare, which will represent a loss of close to €40 million”, he told Lusa. Given the current scenario, “there are no economically viable conditions” for rice growing.
Rice growers forced to sell produce for less than it costs them
