The Secretary of Bioeconomy, Eng. Fernando Vilella, will be in Rafaela this Tuesday the 30th. He will give a talk on “Corn Stunting” in the Multipurpose Room of the Rafaela Rural Society (Av. Brasil 497) at 6:30 p.m. In previous statements, he estimated that he has already generated a loss of US$1.5 billion, due to a drastic decrease in exports.
This disease, caused by the corn leafhopper, has generated productive declines in some areas such as Córdoba, Santa Fe, Corrientes and Santiago del Estero. Everything suggests that it is here to stay and should be taken into account for the next campaign.
Let us remember that due to this critical situation, the national government has convened a crisis committee, made up of the Liaison Table, the Argentine Seed Growers Association (ASA) and MAIZAR, the Argentine Corn and Sorghum Association. The issue is not minor: 7 million fewer tons will be harvested this campaign.
“The general performance of this campaign will be at least between 8% and 12% below what was expected a few weeks ago,” Vilella explained a few days ago to Telefé Santa Fe.
The choice of our city, in a new step of what the Government calls “Comprehensive Plan”, has two reasons. The first, Rafaela is a point equidistant from the affected districts. The second is the capital of the dairy basin, which will suffer greatly from the lack of food for its animals.