The Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, Jose Arista, along with the regional governors, and the potato producer organizations have reached an agreement to end the strike in Huancavelica, Junin, Huanuco, Apurimac, and Ayacucho.
The agreement includes that the Executive branch of government will issue an Emergency Decree for the acquisition of the surplus of potato production through the regional governments of Huancavelica, Huanuco, Apurimac, Ayacucho, and Junin. The potatoes purchased will be distributed in social programs, and the government will make purchases of up to one and a half million soles in each region.
The second point of the agreement establishes that the representatives of the producers commit to ending the strike immediately in Huancavelica, Huanuco, Apurimac, Ayacucho, and Junin.
They also agreed that the potato producers, the MINAGRI, and the regional governments, would set up a Technical Table in Lima on January 17.
The agreement was achieved at a meeting at the Ministry of Agriculture's headquarters in La Molina. The meeting started at 5 pm and ended two and a half hours later. Each of the authorities and producer delegations exposed the problems faced by the potato sector in their regions.
The meeting was attended by Minister Jose Arista, the Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policies, Pablo Quijandria, the regional governors of Huancavelica, Clodoaldo Ore; Ayacucho, Wilfredo Osccorima, Junin, Angel Unchupaico, Apurimac, Wilber Villegas, and Huanuco, Jorge Alva.
It was also attended by parliamentarians Humberto Morales, Karina Beteta, Rodolfo Espinoza, Rogelio Tucto, Bienvenido Ramírez, and the representatives of the producers Zacarias Nuñez, Wilber Ferrel, Elvis Contreras, Mateo Rojas, and Alberto Montes, among others.
At the end of the meeting, the minister said that the meeting had been convened by order of President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, and the prime minister, Mercedes Fernandez, and that, thankfully, they had reached an agreement through dialogue.
Source: andina.com.pe