He said that there are still danages to be quantified, including the surviving yields, the percentage of cattle pregnancies and the opportunity cost in many areas.

Delgado considered that 2023 will be a challenging year.

By the end of the year, the Uruguayan government is projecting economic growth of two percent, although the Minister of Economy and Finance, Azucena Arbeleche, warned that the result will be influenced by the costs of the persistent heat wave that mainly affects the agricultural sector, which is vital here.

The Secretary of the Presidency also emphasized that Uruguay’s international expansion is a key factor to the country.

She said that the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries opened 33 new markets and a record number of projects and investments are expected.

Arbeleche added that despite the consequences of the drought in the last quarter of the previous year, there was a record five percent increase in exports in 2022, with 80 percent corresponding to the agricultural sector.

At the opening of a rural fair in the department of Durazno, in the center of the country, she called for the creation of ‘agricultural awareness’.

The cities find out that the agricultural sector is in crisis because of the prices of fruits and vegetables, but for more than three years there has been a lack of normal rains in the countryside,’ she said.

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