Fruits and vegetables: Red alert
There is unease in the fruit and vegetable ecosystem. It is in these terms that the producers and exporters qualify the current situation of their activity, in a letter addressed, on March 31, to the Head of Government. These remarks look like an SOS sent to the Government, According to the signatories of the letter, the sector is in crisis. “The ecosystem of fruits and vegetables, always considered the flagship of Moroccan agriculture, is today in a situation that is very worrying, to say the least. This system, built over many years, thanks to the combined and concerted efforts of the administration-profession tandem, is currently on the edge of a deadlock”, deplores the group of signatories. For lack of attentive ears at the Ministry of Agriculture, four professional organizations have therefore decided to make their voices heard at the level of the Head of Government’s Office. These organizations are APEFEL (Association of Fruit and Vegetable Producers), AMCOM (Moroccan Association of Producers and Exporting Producers of Fruit and Vegetables), ANCEFEL (Association of Fruit and Vegetable Packers and Exporters), and ACPA (Chtouka Association of Agricultural Producers).
The professionals point to the export restrictions decided by the Government to ensure the supply of the local market.
“Today, a simple occasional problem relating to the supply of the local market in tomatoes cannot find its way to a concerted solution. A simple temporary economic problem has led us to a crisis and a deadlock”, say the professionals.
Producers and exporters of vegetables mention a list of factors : drought, increase in the cost price of almost 100% over the last 4 years, increasing burdens with VAT generalized to all the components of production, lower yields, and above all the reduction of the areas dedicated to the round tomato. “Yes, this regression can be explained by several causes, mainly the loss of the Russian market which deprived the domestic market of a volume of 120,000 tons. Most of the land that served the Russian market has been converted to other crops”, the group of producers and exporters explains. Added to this is the substantial increase in the cost price of tomatoes, which the average prices on the local market are unable to cover. According to data shared by the Regional Directorate of Agriculture, the average selling price of tomatoes (first sale) at the local market level was 1.68 Dirhams (0.16 USD) per kilo while its cost price is around 4.5 Dirhams (0.45 USD) . In addition, professionals complain about their sidelining in the decisions made by the Ministry of Agriculture and the «unilateral» management of this crisis made by the administration.
Khadija SKALLI
