Drought causes $ 546 million in losses in Uruguay's agri-business

MONTEVIDEO, July 19 (Xinhua) – The agro-food industry, the engine of the Uruguayan economy, has suffered losses of $ 546 million due to the drought that has affected most of the country south American between late 2017 and early 2018, reported today the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries (MGAP) of Uruguay.

"The drought hit us hard," acknowledged the owner of the MGAP, Enzo Benech, at a press conference. recorded in agriculture, particularly soybean, corn and sorghum crops, for $ 466.7 million jointly, while livestock suffered a decline of $ 79.4 million.

At the beginning of the year, the YMPE declared an "agricultural emergency" for small-scale farmers and dairy farmers, who received a ration to feed the animals through a "soft" loan with maturities of July 2019 and 2020.

According to the Uruguayan Institute of Meteorology (Inumet), between December 2017 and February 2018 "rains were below normal throughout the country", with a deficit of more than 30 percent cent, especially in northern Uruguay, with values ​​greater than 60 percent.

Agricultural and agribusiness exports account for 70 percent of Uruguay's shipments, according to official data. End

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