Soft fruit farmers raise alarm over low prices

Fruit farmers put up a roadblock on national road 19 in Kózki by the Bug River in eastern Poland on Saturday, 19.07.2014. The farmers are protesting against low bulk purchase prices of blackcurrants and other soft fruits. Photo: PAP/Artur Reszko

The roadblock, in force since Saturday on national road number 19 in Losice county, are protesting because of purchase prices. This year, farmers are receiving 0.40 zloty (around 10 euro cents) a kilo for blackcurrants, while in 2013 that figure was well over 1.20 zloty, farmers say.

Agriculture Minister Marek Sawicki told Polish Radio on Sunday that he wants to meet soft fruit farmers this week, although said that he won’t be bringing along “a bag full of money”, and that the EU does not allow for an interventional purchase of fruit.

Sawicki said that the fruit farmers should create groups, “and in this way farmers have the possibility to receive 10 percent financing from the EU.”

“There already are groups of fruit producers which have used EU funding well,” Sawicki said, adding that “they have built fruit storage facilities and don’t worry how much apples cost when they pick them, likewise with blackcurrants they can be frozen […] and sold when there is greater market demand.”

Nevertheless, fruit producers believe that if the government does not intervene, then many farmers will go out of business. (jb)

Fruit farmers put up a roadblock on national road 19 in Kózki by the Bug River in eastern Poland on Saturday, 19.07.2014. The farmers are protesting against low bulk purchase prices of blackcurrants and other soft fruits. Photo: PAP/Artur Reszko