Informality and collection without invoices are hurting greenhouse producers, prices below cost

2024-05-09 10:23:00, Ekonomi CNA

Informality and collection without invoices are hurting greenhouse producers,

The first greenhouse tomato season is at peak production, but farmers are concerned that invoice-free purchases are creating unfair competition and low prices.

In the area of ??Samatica in Berat, which has the highest intensity of greenhouses in the country, a kilogram of tomatoes from the greenhouse for export cost 50 Lek yesterday.

Farmers claimed that this is a much cheaper price than most offer for the local market, 70 Lek per kilogram.

Producers are busy harvesting and do not have the time and human resources to explore the market, as they are completely exposed to traders, who collect without prices and without invoices.

A kilogram of tomatoes from the greenhouse last year was sold for 120-150 Lek per kilogram, while this week it costs 50-55 Lek.

This year the markets of Europe and the region have a better supply from the Mediterranean countries, since last year, in the first season, weather conditions damaged the production of greens in Spain and Italy.

However, retail prices for greens both in the export and domestic markets were increasing. Data from INSTAT show that inflation in this group recorded an annual increase of about 4% in April.

"Gatherers do not issue invoices for tomatoes and cucumbers. They collect all day and the prices are announced the next day, after the goods have been received and sold. We are totally violated by hoarders.

"The government should force them to work more," says Mariglen Ziu, a greenhouse farmer in Samatica, Berat. Like him, many other farmers are worried, many of whom have returned from emigration to invest in greenhouses, after the government promised them support.

The producers claim that the prices of 40-50 ALL per kilogram are below the production costs. According to them, a price of 65 Lek covers the costs of cucumbers and 80 Lek per kilogram for tomatoes. Farmers claim that labor and input costs have increased, which have significantly affected the increase in production prices.

In Albania, the agricultural sector is characterized by high informality and data sources often have great inaccuracies.

INSTAT measures production costs in many sectors. For agriculture, the last data on production prices belong to the end of 2022./ Monitor