Dobrivoje Radovic, The president of the Association of Raspberry Producers of Serbia, stated on behalf of berry producers, he would ask the raspberries buyers and traders (mostly cold storage owners) to announce the final purchase price and payment conditions, otherwise he would ask farmers to suspend the harvest.
According to agroberichtenbuitenland.nl, Radovic recently stated that he was pleased with the engagement of the Ministry of Agriculture, which has engaged all kinds of field inspection controls. The inspectors will also determine export price of raspberries. "Traders claim that the export price of raspberries is €1.7 to 1.8/kg and they can offer €1.15 to 2.1/kg to local producers. The highest price was offered by several of the biggest buyers but 80% of buyers are offering the minimum price," Radovic explained.
He added that the Ministry of Agriculture promised to introduce levies (taxes) on raspberry imports because traders imported this fruit from Ukraine and Poland and mixed it with higher quality Serbian raspberries, so an "artificial" surplus appeared on the market. This year there will be 40 percent less raspberries than last year since the stormy weather in western Serbia destroyed the crop. "The producer price of raspberries is €3 per kilogram, pickers can harvest about 25 kilograms a day, which is €75, and the daily compensation per worker is 34 EUR (without food). When other production costs are calculated, it does not pay off for farmers to harvest the berries at all," said Radovic.
Source: agroberichtenbuitenland.nl