ARGENTINE RICE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 181, 1 August 1936, Page 17

ARGENTINE RICE.

PLAN TO AID GROWERS.

LOANS AND AWARDS. BUENOS AYRES. The Ministry of Agriculture is planning a programme of direct aid to farmers in certain regions of Argentina to increase cultivation of rice and at the same time eliminate as much as possible the necessity of importing it. Domestic production of rice at present approximates 34,000 tons annually, with about 37,000 acres devoted to rice cultivation. Under the proposed programme the area would be increased by 50,000 acres to produce 50,000 more tons annually. Consumption of rice within Argentina amounts to about 100,000 tons.

According to/ the programme the area devoted to rice growing would be augmented in the provinces of Buenos Ayres, Corrientes and Entre Rios and in the territory of Misiones. At present the I yield in these sections has been considerably less than that "in the northwest zone, which in 1935 produced 81.3 per cent of the total. Tlie Ministry proposes to carry out its by riieatis"of iarm loans up to 200 pesos. ( £11 18?) per hectare. The Government also intends to advance loans'for purchase of 6eed. Premiums would fee awarded for the best rice plantations. The Government also intends to decrease the cost of transportation from the rice-growing districts to the distribution centres. From the north-west zones the rice must "be carried by railways, but cheap water transportation would be utilised in the other regions.