After some onion producers stated that the scarcity of onions was due to a lack of support, deliberate imports, and price controls, Oscar Garcia, the head of the Consumer Protection and Competition Defense Authority (ACODECO), said that this situation had been caused because domestic producers had decided to sell their crops to Costa Rica; thus leaving the local market under supplied.
Garcia stressed that many have wanted to blame the onion sector's situation on the price controls when, in reality, the country had a reduction in supply.
"The potato and onion agricultural food committee made some decisions to favor domestic producers and, at the first opportunity, these producers sold their crops to Costa Rica at a better price, leaving the market under supplied," Garcia said.
Domestic producers have estimated that Panama has stopped producing onions in nearly 35,000 hectares in recent years because the country doesn't have a clear policy.
Producers and marketers agree that the State does not have a clear economic policy for this sector.
Recently, the agricultural food chain presented a suggestion to raise the price of this item from $0,60 to $0,80 per pound. A suggestion that, according to the designated Minister of Agriculture, Eduardo Ernesto Carles, will be discussed in the coming days.
Currently, the onion that is regulated is being sold in some markets by up to $1.60, well above the price control measure.
According to Javier Pitty, a producer and member of the Chamber of Commerce of Chiriqui, onion producers have stopped planting this product because they have lost confidence in the product and don't want to lose money or mortgage their estates and lose them to the banks.
Source: panamaamerica.com.pa