agriculture

Tomato growers see red ink

"Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad"---or selling it too cheaply, Panama's tomato growers might add.

Rising production costs are eating away at their business, and they want to renegotiate a contract they signed with Nestlé Panama in 2005 which says the company will pay them $5.25 per quintal (100 lbs.) for their 2008-2009 harvest. Growers say that's not profitable for them.

Pedro Castillo, president of the Cooperativa de Agua Buena in the province of Los Santos, announced that his group will hold a meeting after the harvest at the end of April to evaluate the situation and then decide what action to take, that is, "whether to comply with the contract or not."

Nestlé Panamá said it could not comment on the matter at the present time.

Ernesto Lezcano, president of the Asociación de Productores de Renacimiento, acknowledged that growers never imagined that their production costs would double or triple in the three years since they signed the contract with Nestlé.

One local grower, Alan Cárdenas, said the price per quintal ought to be between $8 and $10, not the $5 currently paid.

The 2008-2009 harvest is expected to yield some 8,000 metric tons of the popular fruit often mistaken for a vegetable.