At least 100 producers for the category are affected by this situation said Zacharias Arce, a producer from the Cue German Cologne in Concepcion. "So far, I've had losses between 10 million to 20 million Guaranis. Compared to last year, I only recovered 5 million Guaranis from the sale of pineapples here in the area. I practically had to give away my production because it was about to rot," he said.
He stated that his pineapple production was running out because he started selling them at very low prices to his neighbors, which ranged between 500 and 1,000 Guaranis per fruit.
"The poor condition of the roads because of the excessive rains made it hard to mobilize the pineapple for exports. That's why we are in this situation," he said.
Support
Regarding the assistance from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), he said the body technicians from that entity had spoken to the producers but that they offered them no solution at this time because the urgency was to fix the roads.
Aldo Fanego, president of the Banana and Pineapple Chamber, said the excessive rains had delayed the work of truckers, who were unable to reach the production areas.
"This setback made the fruits reach their maturity and it is impossible to export them like this," he said.
He also stated that at the country had about 1,000 hectares devoted to pineapple production.
According to him, the export average at this time are some 100 trucks transporting 1,400 twenty kilo boxes of pineapple.
He added that there was so much stock at the Wholesale Market that each box of pineapple was being sold for only 10,000 Guaranis.
Good news
Fanego also spoke about the tariff obstacles, which had been a constant in the Argentine government during the Kirchner administration.
He said they expected a more dynamic and encouraging pace for next year, as the presidency of Mauricio Macri will lift restrictions on tariffs, which will benefit Paraguayan exports of items such as pineapples and bananas.
Source: ultimahora.com