For the second consecutive season, vegetable farmers in Sinaloa face difficult times due to the collapse in the price of tomatoes, tomatillos, and chili peppers, among other products.
Manuel Othon Cruz Burgos, president of the Horticultural Cluster, said they had started the year with great optimism and that they had good expectations prices would not fall two years in a row. “Now producers are paid 1 or 2 pesos per kilo of tomato in the fields; tomatillo is also paid at 1 to 2 pesos, which is quite low, and the jalapeño chili is paid at 6 pesos, which is also low. These prices are not good enough to recover the investment producers have made.”
Last year, prices plummeted to the point that many producers were unable to harvest their plantations as they were unable to pay for labor.
According to Cruz Burgos, tomato prices have plummeted because Baja California and San Luis continue to produce a lot of products and, despite having older fruits, their destination is close and they compete strongly with the new tomato from Sinaloa.
In addition, fertilizer prices have increased by 25 to 35% and there is a shortage of labor, as it has also become more expensive, he added.
The establishment of the surface in this sector should begin to be valued in Sinaloa, stated the president of the Horticultural Cluster. Year after year the complaint is the same: there is no market, which is due to the fact that in many areas of the country they also have cultivation in greenhouses and shade mesh, which increases production and saturates the market, he added.
Source: noroeste.com.mx
