The president of the Chamber of Producers of the Lower Valley of Río Negro, Irineo Guerra, said today that the province's onion sector was having one of its worst seasons due to marketing problems, caused by production costs, and falling sales to Brazil, the main importing country of this vegetable.
"Sales to Brazil fell because that country started importing much cheaper onions from other countries, equivalent to what they cost here but without adding the cost of freight," stated Guerra, adding that exports to the South American country fell from 230,000 tons in 2013 to 22,000 tons at present.
"There is no other external market that can be an alternative to Brazil. The product has only been sent to the border and to the domestic market but to no avail, as prices fall short of the costs.
Sending onions to Brazil costs between $5 and $6 dollars per bag of 20 kilos and shipping them from the Netherlands or Spain only costs US $0.90," said the horticultural producer.
"Onion is the strongest monoculture we have in the area. Producing it costs 50 thousand pesos per hectare. Last year it was produced in 1,750 hectares in the area and I don't think we'll produce more than 20% of that," he added.
The entrepreneur said it was a general crisis that not only affected the Lower Rio Negro region but also the entire area covered by the Corporacion de Fomento del Valle Bonaerense del Rio Colorado (CORFO Rio Colorado).
"It has been an incredibly bad year for horticulture, pumpkin prices were also low, like the onion prices. The only thing that improved was the production of pome fruit," Guerra concluded.
Source: agritotal.com