Producers Paraguay forced to dispose of tomatoes due to fall in prices

Earlier this month, an 18-kilogram box of cherry tomato at Asuncion's Food Market cost 50,000 guaran…

Earlier this month, an 18-kilogram box of cherry tomato at Asuncion's Food Market cost 50,000 guaranies, but yesterday it was being offered for 20,000 guaranies.

The smooth tomato variety also had a drop in prices as an 18-kilogram box went from 80,000 guaranies a fortnight ago to 35,000 guaranies now.

Due to this decrease in prices, tomato producers from the Cordillera and Central stated that they were throwing part of their crops away.

According to them, the wholesale price of the vegetable on the market, 1,110 guaranies per kilo, is well below the 1,800 guaranies per kilo they need to cover costs.

In that sense, Miguel Dominguez, a producer from Emboscada, said many small producers got loans for $50 million guaranies, on average, to grow tomatoes and that they wouldn't be able to recover their expenses. He also blamed authorities for this situation.

"It is true that there is an overproduction of tomato, because the weather conditions were favorable, but there's also a lot of smuggling and that is the authorities' fault. The saddest part of this situation is producers aren't able to sell their product and have to throw it away," he said.

In turn, the technical director of Senave, engineer Pablo Ayala, stated that imports of tomato, onion, and locote had been suspended since September 28.