Filenews 2 May 2024
The Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment announced the creation of a price observatory for fruit and vegetable products under the name "e-kofini".
The "e-kofini", which is hosted on the website of the Department of Agriculture at the link www.moa.gov.cy/ekofini, regularly publishes the average selling prices of the main fruit and vegetable products of local production, as determined both at the level of producers and at the various retail outlets, highlighting the price differences. The collection of prices for the "e-coffin" is done twice a week by officers of the Department of Agriculture, in order to ensure the timely and accurate recording of data.
Fruit and vegetable products, whose prices are monitored by the "e-coffin", include vegetables such as tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, taro, onions, peppers, green beans and beans, and fruits such as bananas, watermelon, melon and strawberries.
In order to collect data at producer level, the selling prices of the recognised fruit and vegetable producer groups and organisations for the main products marketed shall be taken. As far as retail outlets are concerned, fruit and vegetable prices are collected from supermarkets operating on a nationwide basis.
The "e-coffin" is expected to help ensure fairer conditions for all those involved in the fruit and vegetable trading chain, closing the producer and retail price gap. On the one hand, it aims to inform consumers about the expected prices of local fruit and vegetables, helping to improve transparency in the market. On the other hand, it is also to provide information to producers, strengthening the protection of their interests regarding prices in the primary sector.
The aim of the Ministry of Agriculture, with the implementation of the price observatory "e-kofini", is to maintain an open channel of communication with the main stakeholders in the supply chain of primary production products, while achieving the offer of high quality products at fairer and more affordable prices for consumers.
In addition to www.moa.gov.cy/ekofini e-mail address, which the public will be able to visit, a public communication channel has also been created on the Viber application entitled Department of Agriculture e-kofini, for more direct information. Those interested in receiving further information can contact Mrs. Melpomeni Shakou, Agriculture Officer at the Department of Agriculture, at e-mail. msiakou@da.moa.gov.cy address or tel. 22464081.
