With a 66% predominance over electricity and firewood, diesel is the largest source of energy used in the agricultural sector. And in the Agriculture is the highest consumption.
The fuel, which according to what was announced by the government, will drop $6 per liter in its price as of January 1, 2023going from $64.99 to $58.99 per liter, is one of the main items in the producers’ cost schemes.
The production of rice, soybean, fruit trees and dairy are the items responsible for consuming more than 71% of diesel total used in agricultural activities, reported the Yearbook of the Office of Agricultural Programming and Policy (Opypa), of the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries (MGAP).
In agriculture, diesel is used for irrigation, spraying, sowing, fertilizing, windrowing and harvesting.
The item you use the most
In the case of rice, the productive item with the highest consumption of this fuel, the energy is mainly used for irrigation, highlights the MGAP report.
After learning the news of the drop in the price of fuel, the president of the Rice Growers Association (ACA), Alfredo Lago, expressed on his Twitter account that it was very good.
“The reduction in the price of fuels always has a great positive impact on the entire national economy”he said, and added: “Equally, It is pertinent to say that it would have been possible to reduce said rate in the previous months. This has been demonstrated by the international oil market. This delay is due to the fact that the valuation of fuel prices is related to a perverse quantification of the PPI of the URSEAa theoretical and unreal formula.”
In the case of soybeans, production requires a large amount of diesel, not because of its high consumption per hectare but because of the extent of cultivation in the national territory, indicated the Opypa report. In the 2021/22 harvest, 1,165,000 hectares were planted.
