Banana producers, for the second time this week, returned to the tracks to complain about the situation in their sector.

For the second time this week, banana producers protested by placing the fruit on the roads.

Dozens of producers from that province, from El Oro, Guayas and Cotopaxi once again requested the national government to declare a state of emergency in the sector with a peaceful march that went through the San Juan precinct of the Puebloviejo canton, in Los Ríos. which, according to them, records weekly losses of $10 million.

This is due to the fruit that has stopped being located in the Russian and Ukrainian markets due to the war and also because supposedly the boxes of bananas leave the country paying below the minimum support price (PMS).

Franklin Torres, president of the Federation of Banana Producers of Ecuador (Fenabe) , assured that “100% of the fruit is coming out for less than $2″, when the minimum price is $6.25 a box.

“We have asked the national government for two years, we are asking that the boxes that leave the country be only those that pay the minimum support price, that the boxes that leave the country be those that comply with the banana law, the that they comply with the contracts and that this really serves to feed the country’s agricultural economy,” said the leader, who was present at the mobilization, where dozens of producers once again placed banana bunches on the roads as a claim measure.

The farmers also rejected the declarations of the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Pedro Álava, who assured that the sector is not in an emergency.

“It seems that the minister speaks in Spanish, but he still thinks in English and does not really understand the environment, he does not understand the reality of the problem that we banana producers are suffering,” criticized Torres, who assured that the declaration of an emergency in the sector is the most currently necessary.

In addition, he urged compliance with the provision of the President of the Republic, Guillermo Lasso, to remove the permit from exporters who do not respect the PMS.

He assured that the national government has the necessary tools to find out which are the exporting companies that do not comply with the PMS.

“For example, ask the Central Bank for the payments for the SPI (Interbank Payment System) and the shipping manifests for the last five weeks, there the president will be able to find out who has paid and who has not paid the PSM, there he will be able to Realize the number of boxes that are exported weekly and perfect, if you have to keep 10%, let that 10% stay here in Ecuador, no matter how, and 90% come out at the official price, “said Torres.

Regarding the possibility that the regime manages to locate the fruit that does not go to Russia and Ukraine in other markets such as China and Korea, the leader assured that it is fine, but that it is a medium and long-term solution and what the sector needs. It is an immediate term solution.

“We have sent the proposal, we hope that the president reads the proposal, because unfortunately the advisers either do not know how to read or they do not want to tell the president what we have said in that proposal. At no time have we mentioned that we want to nationalize the losses, what we want is for the boxes of bananas from Ecuador to be paid at the minimum support price, to come out with a contract for the purchase and sale of fruit and to come out in compliance with the banana law”, Torres concluded, who assured that the protests will continue progressively until the sector meets with President Lasso. (I)