After having presented a special series about the situation of scarcity and the low production of garlic, this year, the province will treble the area planted, i.e. 1,800 tareas, with this product in 2016.
Farmers are motivated by the profitability of garlic and hope that the government will postpone imports when the local crop is available. They are also planting this crop because of the low prices of various crops that are produced in the most important agricultural areas of the country.
Recently, 9 containers of the Katin and Purple varieties arrived in the country and producers are waiting for another shipment of an equal amount to arrive to start planting them at the end of October.
Chelo Cepeda, the president of Unaproda, said they were seeking to create conditions with the government authorities to overcome past situations that limited the planting of garlic.
Raudy Cruz, said they had installed garlic drying machines to speed up the post-harvest process and boost marketing. "We estimate that we will harvest about 40 thousand quintals, enough to supply demand for two months, which is why we hope that there are no garlic imports in March and April of 2018 as they could affect Constanza's production."
As a result, producers are asking the government not to allow imports of garlic during that period.
source: noticiassin.com