"Agricultural and livestock production costs have continuously increased because of the inflationary crisis there's been this campaign. This situation has a bigger impact on intensive fruit and vegetable greenhouse productions, as they are more vulnerable to these fluctuations. That's why pepper producers started their campaign with the highest costs they've ever faced," ASAJA-Almeria stated.
According to a first assessment of the agricultural organization, "the current production costs of pepper have increased the total costs borne by producers by 26% on average. Labor accounts for 39% of the production cost, followed by fertilizers with 8%. The amortizations of the structures necessary for production, as well as the plastic consumables used in our agriculture, have increased by more than 58% since 2021. The price of other inputs or supplies, such as electricity, water, and agricultural diesel, among others, have also increased like never before.
"We fear that the price of many inputs will never come down to the levels they had before this inflation crisis," stated Adoracion Blanque, the president of ASAJA-Almeria.
In this campaign that is already nearing its end in some crops, horticultural quotations are responding to these increases since 2023 began to date. However, in many cases, the incidence of pests, diseases, and the weather have reduced yields. "At the moment, prices are good for producers, but we'll only find out if they compensated for the increase in costs at the end of the campaign," stated the president of ASAJA-Almeria.
"We insist the Central Government needs to reduce the tax burden on the agricultural sectors, including the tax reduction requested by the sector to avoid the closure of farms. ASAJA-Almeria also asks that additional compensation be established to counteract the increase in costs."
For more information:
ASAJA-AlmerÃa
https://asajaalmeria.org