Mr Arthur said the current Coronavirus pandemic has shone a light on the issues in the industry, which could further deteriorate if international borders continue to be closed for imports and exports.
A Moulamein based grower, Mr Arthur said the intense demand on Australian grown rice will see domestic supplies run dry.
With only a small percentage of the Riverina’s growers actually able to deliver a rice crop next month, due to low or no irrigation water allocations, the pending crop will do little to ease those demands.
And it could continue if water is not made available to growers before the next planting window in October or November this year.
SunRice has already started discussions with the relevant authorities to secure an emergency allocation for production if allocations continue to be compromised.
Mr Arthur said water is the only way to shore up the production of staple food items, of which rice is one of the most highly sought after.
‘‘Rice was one of the first staple items to disappear off supermarket shelves (when panic buying started) and then pasta,’’ Mr Arthur said.
‘‘SunRice is a specialist in transporting rice around the world and we will do our best to ensure Australia has all that it needs, but the one sure way to secure supply is to have the water to grow it.
‘‘There are some emerging problems here and we (SunRice) have a solution; we just need an emergency allocation.
‘‘Water reform is eroding general security allocations, especially in the New South Wales Murray. Not every situation is the same, but we are certainly not receiving the water we normally would have in similar circumstances (before the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and associated water sharing rules).
‘‘The Murray and Murrumbidgee regions produce the highest yields of rice in the world, with efficient water use and good quality.
‘‘Rice is one of our commodities that requires irrigation — it cannot be grown as a dryland crop.’’
SunRice has reported this year’s crop will represent only five percent of an average crop size. It will be the second consecutive low production year, with only 54,000 tonnes delivered last year.
In a normal year, rice can be delivered from up to 800 farms. SunRice is only expecting product to come from 70 this season.
‘‘Two very low crops in consecutive years means we are not self sufficient in rice in Australia,’’ Mr Arthur said.
‘‘We have designed shift patterns to ensure we can continue milling all year — which for us is April to April — but demand is currently 250 per cent of the normal local market.
‘‘We do have the market share in food service and retail, but world rice trade is problematic. Vietnam is now halting all exports indefinitely and we strongly believe another two countries are about to announce they will shut their borders.
‘‘The last time we had a food security issue like this was in World War II, and that’s when rice growing started in the Wakool area utilising prisoners of war. With water, SunRice is capable of making Australian rice self-sufficient again.’’
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