Casanare: rice growers accumulate $470,000 million in debts and the Ministry requests relief

The Ministry of Agriculture requested relief for Casanare rice farmers hit by the floods and low prices of 2026. Minister Indalecio Dangond proposed adjustments to banks, mills, and input suppliers, so that producers do not lose assets or run out of capital for the 2027 planting.

In July, the floods affected more than 13,000 hectares of rice in the department. Casanare also concentrated 54.8% of the national rice area in the first half of 2026.

The price did not help. Between February and July, green paddy rice — the freshly harvested, un-dried grain — was sold in Yopal at an average of $1,264,000 per ton. It was one of the lowest levels among benchmark markets and fell below production costs, according to Portafolio’s account.

The Government of Casanare reports obligations of $470,000 million with the milling industry, based on Finagro figures. To that are added debts with banks, agricultural supply stores, and suppliers.

What the Ministry put on the table: reschedule loans according to payment capacity; temporarily suspend legal collections, enforcement proceedings, and seizures; avoid late-payment interest and penalties, to the extent possible for each creditor; and extend deadlines with mills, agricultural supply stores, and suppliers, including maturities at the beginning of 2027.

It also wants a complete picture of the loan portfolio and a financing scheme for the first-half 2027 planting. For that, it will convene a roundtable with the financial sector, the milling industry, and agricultural supply businesses.

Dangond summed it up as follows: the priority is to protect productive capacity, prevent producers from losing their assets, and enable them to plant again in 2027.

None of that has been implemented. It is a request from the Ministry and a roundtable to be convened. For the producer, the immediate fact is different: if the sale price stayed below cost and the debt continues running, the relief only works if it arrives before the next planting.

Source. Portafolio, October 8, 2026, with data from the Government of Casanare, Finagro, and the Ministry of Agriculture. This text is an original summary, not a reproduction.