Filenews 8 May 2021 - by Pambos Vasilas
There is shock at the news that since the beginning of the week thousands of kilos of tomatoes and cucumbers have been weighed simply for the purpose of recording the quantity and then taken to a landfill, since there is no prospect of marketing.
According to the president of SEDIGEP Sotiras, Mario Pantelis, the 200 members of the Association, several young farmers, are on their psychological limits and face the spectre of bankruptcy. "We are not begging, we are not asking for regret, but it seems that our case has been made known. The state grants we have received since the beginning of the pandemic have been insufficient in relation to our actual costs. Even this closure of supermarkets on The Big Saturday was for us another slap in the face, as it exacerbated the problem of the plethora of supply in our products," Mr Pantelis told "F".
Presenting official data of the Accounting Office of the Association, Mr. Pantelis mentioned that from 29 March 2020, until 5 May 2021, SEDIGEP Sotiras was obliged to take to the dump more than 250 tons, because there was no demand and prospect of being disposed of at any price. Of this quantity, most of the products were tomatoes and cucumbers. But large quantities of black and white zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli, green peppers and other vegetables were buried in the dump.
Reiterating that the allowances do not cover the actual cost of production, Mr Pantelis explained that the "zero price" for the above quantities would be assimilated into the average price of the products, essentially by straining prices and leading SEDIGEP and its member producers to economic damage.
"Our only hope is to restart, open tourism and restaurants. The period of the crown was a period of economic disaster for the rural world," said Mr Pantelis.
They gave to the needy and to the Social Grocery Stores
The president of SEDAGEP Sotiras also told "F", that his company all this time offered and continues to offer free tomatoes, cucumbers and other vegetables to Social Grocery Stores and other social organizations that help needy people and families. Not only in the free Famagusta, but also up to Nicosia. However, he pointed out, unfortunately, the surplus quantities, due to the decrease in demand, were so large that this action did not prevent the destruction of huge quantities in the landfill either.
We met from early yesterday morning, in the area of receipt of agricultural products of SEDIGEP Sotira, about three kilometres southwest of the municipality. Watching producers with lowered tired eyes, glum, carrying tomatoes and cucumbers. There were already dozens of cases stacked, while on top of a van, quantities of cucumbers were thrown. Then the farmers just left. They didn't even have the courage to ask for money. It had been known since this morning that yesterday the price was "zero price". We followed the two vans with the fresh tomatoes and the musky cucumbers, many of which still had the flower attached. In the area of the chapel of Agia Varvara, we looked at the dump in front of us. Like an insatiable monster, he can't wait to swallow more of the farmers' labours. Everything that's happening in the neighbouring Paralimn, it's the same thing. With tomatoes, cucumbers and other vegetables, they end up in animal or poultry farms. And farmers, looking forward to better days, the rest of the year.
