In other news, yesterday we told you that the Ministry of Agriculture and the Belize Marketing and Development Board met with the onion farmers of the north. That's because the farmers were upset that onions were still being imported even though they had already started harvesting. The imported onions flooding the shelves made it harder for them to sell their produce, and had forced them to sell 15-30 dollars cheaper than they normally would.
And while the press release from the government said that the parties were able to hash things out, the farmers say they're not completely satisfied. Many of them have lost trust in the BMDC and while the Ministry claims they will stop importation until the onion season ends, the farmers are wary of those promises. They believe there should be no imported onions until all of the local onions have run out. And they're waiting to see if next year, there won't be this overlap again.
The farmers also explained that while BMDC has agreed to buy their onions for the next two weeks, they wanted to pay $65 a sack, which they say is not profitable to them.
So, the onion battle continues as the farmers hope that the Ministry and BMDC heed their concerns. We will continue to follow up with them.
