The new Minister of Agriculture, Bernardo Manzano , announced that this May 9, 2022, he will begin his first meetings with the banana sector, to seek a solution to their demands.
Minister Bernardo Manzano urges farmers to form cooperatives or associations to face the commercial problem of the milk, rice, corn and banana chains.
“Today we begin a series of meetings with the banana sector, with the entire chain. The advantage is that I have knowledge of the entire chain and I know what we can help with and what we can improve,” said the minister on Teleamazonas.
Manzano indicated that he is evaluating, together with the Minister of Production, Julio José Prado, other markets for the fruit. “South Korea has 52 million inhabitants and the fourteenth largest economy in the world, they have money to buy bananas,” he said.
The Minister of Agriculture added that our bananas have 30% taxes, compared to Peru and Colombia, which are zero. “There are opportunities there to direct the fruit to other markets.”
According to Manzano, the problem of the productivity of chains such as milk, rice, corn and bananas, lies in the commercial aspect. “We need farmers to form cooperatives or associate to improve productivity and technology,” he insisted.
The official explained that they are also carrying out a study to subsidize urea, a chemical necessary for several of our crops.
“I have to find the procedures to execute it, but we have the support of the president (Guillermo Lasso). We will start with urea and little by little we will analyze the cost chain”, said the Minister of Agriculture.
Other changes in the production matrix are also being analyzed to lower costs.
