Collection Centers will be Defined for the Purchase of Bananas

Banana Clusters may be placed and marketed in collection centers

Starting tomorrow, the purchase of banana excess from small and medium banana producers, will begin at $ 3 per cluster. This measure was adopted as part of the eight-week banana emergency declared by the Government.

The news came after a meeting between the advisor to the Ministry of Agriculture, Aquaculture, Livestock and Fisheries (MAGAP for its Spanish acronym), Rafael Guerrero and the advisor to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, Javier Ponce, along with representatives of the banana sector at Machala, El Oro.

At the meeting, Guerrero said that $ 1.5 million has been allocated for the purchase of 500,000 Banana Crates, which may be placed and marketed in collection centers to be defined until the afternoon.

The producers agreed with the established price even though the official price is $ 5.50. But they have rejected the Goverment’s term to pay for the product.

They argue that “the emergency of last September was not positive, and there are still people who have not charged for the clusters sold to the government,” said Paul Gonzalez, president of the Machala Agricultural Center. (MZ)