On Friday, 23rd June, raspberry growers are going to temporarily close down their cold storage units as a sign of protest against a very low purchase price of 120 dinars per kilogramme – the head of the Association of Raspberry Growers of Serbia, Dobrivoje Radovic says.
The raspberry growers are demanding the purchase price of between 220 and 240 dinars per kilogramme. Radovic says that this year’s yield has been halved and that the raspberry growers are facing difficulties.
“The raspberry yield, both in Serbia and the world, has been reduced by almost 50% due to bad weather, while the buyers are offering only 120 dinars per kg. This speaks volume about how dysfunctional raspberry market is and about certain people monopolizing the demand and supply and determining the purchase price”, Radovic adds.
The Association has sent a letter to all line ministries (agriculture, commerce, finance, as well as customs authorities and state president) asking them to re-examine why are supply and demand rules not applied to the raspberry market too.
The producers are expecting a confirmation today about a possible meeting with the Agriculture Minister, Branislav Nedimovic. Only yesterday, Nedimovic said that, due to a high purchase price of raspberry, its production had been progressively expanding.
The minister added that the Agriculture Ministry was not allowed to determine the purchase price, but that it could, to a certain extent, influence the buyers via inspection authorities and independent bodies.
(Blic, 19.06.2017)
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