Peru's rice growers threaten national strike from 23 July over import-driven price crash
Peruvian rice producers say they will launch a national strike from 23 July unless the government addresses the sector's crisis. According to La República, growers blame a surge in imports for saturating the market, cutting prices and pushing thousands of farmers into debt.
Peru's rice growers threaten national strike from 23 July
Peruvian rice producers have warned they will launch a national strike from 23 July unless the government addresses the sector's demands, La República reported. Producer organisations say the crisis is squeezing thousands of farmers across several regions of the country. They blame a rise in rice imports for saturating the domestic market, driving down the profitability of local production and deepening producer debt.
Guillermo Pérez, a leader of rice producers in the Tumbes valley, said rice-growing organisations would confirm the strike date if the Executive fails to present concrete measures to counter the fall in domestic profitability. Speaking to radio station Exitosa, in remarks reported by La República, he said producers currently have no other way to make themselves heard.
Imports blamed for market saturation
Pérez identified rising imports as one of the sector's central problems, arguing they have flooded the internal market and made it harder to sell Peruvian rice. "The big importers have filled our markets. Even the mills are overstocked," he said. He also alleged that importers bring in foreign rice, blend it with higher-quality Peruvian grain and sell the mix as a national product — a practice he called a "disloyalty of the State" toward growers. For buyers and traders, the complaint points to an oversupplied milling chain in which imported and domestic rice compete directly at wholesale level.
Mounting producer debt
The standoff also has a financial dimension. Pérez warned that hundreds of producers are carrying debts with both public and private banks after losses recorded in recent months. "We don't even know what to do. Most people are in debt with both private and state banks," he said, according to La República. The combination of weak farm-gate prices and outstanding bank loans is central to the growers' demand for government intervention.
Pressure on the Agriculture Ministry
As part of their protest, producers staged a sit-in on 9 July outside the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation (Midagri), demanding a meeting with the minister and solutions to the crisis. Pérez said the minister is the main authority responsible for addressing farmers' complaints and called for an immediate response.
He recalled that rice growers led the most recent agrarian strike and warned that regional bases would again coordinate action if the government stays silent. "If there is no response, we will go to a total shutdown, because we have no other means of protest to be heard," he said. Producers reiterated that 23 July is the planned start date for the national strike if the Executive does not adopt measures to ease the crisis in the rice sector.
