Date Published: 04/02/2020
ARCHIVED - Murcia crop farmers up in arms over low market prices
ARCHIVED ARTICLE 
Demonstrations planned as the supermarket price of broccoli exceeds 7 times the amount paid to farmers
It sometimes seems that the crop farmers of the Region of Murcia are in a state of permanent indignation over the injustice with which they feel the world and the regional and national governments treat them, and on Monday organizations representing the sector announced that they will be holding a mass demonstration on Friday 21st February to protest over the low prices paid for their products at source.
In recent months the agriculturalists have claimed that they are being victimized over the deterioration in water quality in the Mar Menor and unfairly treated by the Ministry of Ecological Transition in the restrictions being placed on the amount of water transferred to Murcia via the Tajo-Segura supply canal, but now the source of their anger is the low market prices of their freshly harvested products. These, they say, coupled with Donald Trump’s trade tariffs and those which may apply to exports to the UK after the new post-Brexit relationship has been negotiated, are making life “impossible” for them and leading to their continued activity becoming financially “unsustainable”.
The COAG, Asaja and UPA farming unions point to a 9 per cent drop in prices over the last 12 months which has led sales revenue falling below production costs, and Miguel Padilla of COAG claims that the entire food production of Murcia, Spain and Europe is at stake. Quoting specific details to illustrate his point, he states that last week farmers were able to sell fresh broccoli at 28 cents per kilo, while by the time the same product reaches supermarkets it is being sold at 2 euros per kilo, a mark-up of over 600 per cent.
The farmers also claim that the prices at which they are forced to sell are the same as 12 years ago while their costs have risen by 30 per cent in the last 3 years, and to a greater or lesser degree similar situations apply in respect not only of fresh vegetables but also of fruit, honey and cut flowers.
Among the measures the farmers are demanding are stricter laws governing the cultivation and production processes and subsidies and tax concessions to offset increasing staff costs: it is worth bearing in mind that the Spanish government’s commitment to raising the minimum wage has brought about an increase of 29 per cent since 2018 to 950 euros per month.
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