The agrarian organization Asaja Almería has warned of the "general collapse" of the prices at origin of vegetables in the province in recent weeks. This appears to mostly be affecting products such as cucumber, zucchini or eggplant, which are cheaper than last year.
According to data from the organization, the price of Almería-type cucumbers "has plunged," with a 48% drop last week, down to around 16 cents. Zucchini is another product going through a bad time, with a 31% drop down to 30 cents. So far in November, the price has fallen by 46% and is 57% lower than last year.
Eggplant is the third most affected product. Its price has fallen by 35% and last week it dropped below 30 cents. If we compare it with last year, the price is also 19% lower.
As pointed out by Asaja Almería, there are also concerns in the tomato sector. Prices have fallen by 9% in the month of November and last week alone they fell by 50% for the loose, 36% for the vine and by 25% for the plum varieties. Prices stand below the production costs, which amount to around 42 cents.
In the case of peppers, whose price had remained stable in recent weeks, there has been a 19% drop in the case of bell peppers and a 29% one in the case of the Lamuyo.
For this reason, Asaja has called for effective measures aimed at "addressing a structural problem in an essential sector," such as stricter monitoring of the products that arrive at our borders to ensure that agreements and quotas are met, as well as the review and control of the payment of duties.
They also request the improvement of crisis management mechanisms and product recalls, so that they can be quick and applicable to all marketing models and coordinated to be effective.
Asaja also believes that it is necessary to continue working on the opening of new markets, on the recovery of some, such as Russia, and on minimizing the impact of Brexit, reaching an agreement as soon as possible, given the importance that this market has for the province.
Source: agrodiario.com