The small campaign was a total failure for the farmers in Camana. At least 80% of the 3,800 users or producers in this coastal area of Arequipa are in debt because they were unable to harvest their onions crops, due to falling onion prices in the domestic market.
The President of the Board of Users of Camana, Marcelo Valdivia Bravo, said each farmer had invested about 8,000 to 10,000 soles per hectare, but the vast majority of them had been unable to recover a single sol, as harvesting the onions would have incurred an additional cost.
"It was better not to harvest because it was uneconomic. A 100-kilo sack of onions was being sold at 10 soles, i.e. 10 cents a kilo. That's why some producers chose not to harvest," stated Valdivia Bravo.
Onion prices decreased to extremely low levels because of the overproduction of onions in Arequipa and in the north of the country. Last year, a kilo of onions cost up to 3 soles. According to Valdivia, many farmers opted to plant onions because prices were good, ignoring the sowing plans of the ministry.
One of the reasons there is an overproduction of a particular product is the lack of information regarding what farmers intend to plant.
According to Valdivia; years ago, there used to be a system where rural producers would indicate what products they planned to sow a week beforehand. This data was then compared with other regions, preventing many producers from growing similar crops and allowing them to consider alternatives.
Source: diariocorreo.pe