La Reunion: Onion production under threat
The main reason farmers are stopping onion production is the increasing European norms, which are not inflicted on imported onions. One producers says, “what annoys me a bit is that the onions we import nowadays from Madagascar or India use pesticides that are banned here”. Without these pesticides, farmers have to manually weed their plots, an extra cost for the producers. The Chamber of Agriculture is aware of the problem and say they are working with various organisations such as Armeflhor or the Cirad to set up techniques that are adapted to local production.