Rice growers in the Riverina have rallied against the Rice Marketing Board's decision on SunRice board appointments

With SunRice reducing the size of its board after being listed on the ASX, the number of RMB representatives on the board was reduced to two.

With the results of the RMB election announced last month, Melissa De Bortoli got 219 votes, and incumbents John Bradford got 205 and Ian Mason got 202.

Traditionally, those with the most votes are appointed to the SunRice board but this year, Ian Mason and John Bradford were elected while Ms DeBortoli was passed over.

Andrew Burge, a rice grower in Deniliquin, was surprised at the swerve and said that Ms De Bortoli would have been an asset to the SunRice board.

"We expected Melissa to get on the board and I am disappointed for her and the industry," he said.

"The number of votes was one of the criteria for election and she topped the poll.

"But the selection panel has overridden the wishes of the voters."

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He added that Ms De Bortoli would have been an ideal representative for the growers themselves.

"I think Melissa was more focused on the growers, and with her background in finance she would have been an ideal representative for all growers," Mr Burge said.

Glen Andreazza, who previously served on the SunRice board and now holds a spot on Griffith City Council, said something had gone terribly wrong with the rejection of Ms De Bortoli's candidacy.

"Considering she had the most votes she would have added to the diversification and gender equality on the board," he said.

"It puts in question the future of the single desk and the Rice Marketing Board."

Chairman of the Rice Marketing Board John Culleton said that the decision was made due to the extra responsibility that board members would hold.

"With the decision to reduce the size of the board, every director will have to bear additional responsibility. Each one of those representatives will be bearing more responsibility than ever before," he said.

"That was the fundamental driver in terms of how the Rice Marketing board thought about our options ... The selection process was about looking at those people and deciding who amongst them were most appropriately qualified."

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MIA rice grower John Bonetti disagreed.

"The growers haven't finished with this - it is time somebody stood up and started to look after the growers, otherwise we won't have an industry in Australia."

"The communication between the board and growers needs to improve."

A statement from SunRice said that they were not involved with the decision making process.

"The formal process to select the two RMB representatives to be appointed to the SunRice Group Board was conducted solely by the RMB," the statement reads.

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