Rice farmers in the country expect crop losses up to 80% this season due to unusually dry conditions that affected the rice crop at the start of the spring planting season. Officials from INDRHI note that this is the driest conditions observed in several rice growing seasons in recent years.
Rice is the primary source of income for thousands of families in Montecristi Province alone. Low water levels in reservoirs in the central highlands and a lack of rainfall this spring and early summer have created a water deficit that has left the rice crop high and dry. Affected farmers have asked the government to work with rice farmer groups and rice industry representatives to develop a strategy to deal with what looks like will be a catastrophic rice crop loss.
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