The Unió de Pagesos (UP) has asked the Administration and the sector for an "urgent response" to tackle the structural crisis that the sweet fruit sector is suffering because of the prices paid.
According to the UP, there should be an economic circumscription for peaches, nectarines, pears and apples in Catalonia, as well as an increase in the minimum sugar level requirements, necessary for the peaches or nectarines produced in Catalonia to be marketed.
They have also asked for the supply of market data, such as stocks, prices and costs, among others.
The agrarian union has also asked the Ministry to demand a plan from the European Union that can help solve the structural problem caused by the Russian veto in the peach and nectarine sector. Moreover, it has also asked for the start of a second varietal conversion plan.
The Department of Agriculture has asked it to continue publishing the reference prices for fresh fruit and prepare a protocol for research and market surveillance together with the Catalan Consumption Agency (ACC). The idea is to improve the controls on everything that is sold.
Regarding the summer fruit campaign, despite the reference prices of peaches and nectarines in Catalonia having been slightly higher than last season, "it is still necessary to wait for the payment of the liquidations before making a definitive assessment."
In this sense, the UP stressed that large distributors "have once again pushed the prices at origin down "without any justified reason."
The agricultural union said that the recurring price crises suffered by the sector are a hurdle to innovation.
For this reason, another of the UP's proposals is a varietal reconversion plan, especially for apples and pears, since "there are plantations with varieties that are not adapted to the market's needs or that have noncompetitive yields."
Source: EFE
