BUENOS AIRES, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Tens of thousands of Argentine farmers and government supporters Tuesday swarmed to streets in dueling protests before a Senate vote on hikes in grain-export taxes.

    The Senate would vote Wednesday on the export tax hikes decreed by President Cristina Fernandez in early March.

    Farm leaders Tuesday urged lawmakers to vote against the tax increases, saying they will cripple rural economies.

    "We are here to give our support to those senators who are willing to help their country," said Mario Llambias, head of the Argentine Rural Confederation. "The government can't keep robbing the provinces."

    According to local media reports, some 225,000 people attended the farmers' rally while about 95,000 people joined the pro-government demonstration.

    Fernandez's husband, former Argentine president and current president of the Justicialist Party, Nestor Kirchner is the keynote speaker of the government supporters.

    "We will accept the Congress' decision whatever it may be because we want social peace," he said.

    The lower house had passed the bill earlier this month at the president's request for votes in congress.

    If the Senate also approves the bill, the duty on soy in Argentina will rise to 44 percent from the previous 34 percent.

    Argentina had been gripped in conflicts between the government and farmers triggered by the proposed tax increases since March. To ease the tension, Fernandez decided to put it to votes in congress last month.