MADINAH: Vegetable farmers in the Madinah region claim to have suffered huge financial losses because of low-priced foreign produce coming into the Kingdom, and have called on the government for help.
The farmers are calling for the government to protect local produce by reducing foreign imports, particularly during the local production season that starts in mid-September and ends at the end of February.
“We sell our products to retailers at prices much lower than the production costs but still consumers complain of the high price of fruit and vegetables compared to past years,” said a farmer.
Ahmed Ali, a farmer, said he has a 70,000 square meter farm on which he has spent more than SR500,000 cultivating various types of vegetables and palm trees. He added that financial returns have been disappointing.
“I was hoping that my farm would be a feasible investment for me and my family, but I have, instead, suffered losses because of the drop in prices of local products over imported fruit and vegetables,” he said.
Muhammad Hussein, another farm owner, called on authorities concerned to intervene to protect local agriculture against the “unfair” competition of imported produce. “We can be protected by reducing foreign imports during the local harvesting seasons,” he said.
Faisal Al-Rihaili, deputy chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who is also a farmer, said many countries protect their farmers against the hegemony of imported goods to allow their local agricultural sectors to grow. “It is well known that the agricultural sector is the least profitable, and the most time and effort consuming,” he said.
Ali Mubarak, who owns a number of farms, said the vegetable market in the Kingdom needs careful studying by specialists so that producers and traders can obtain their rights. “Some of the big merchants buy boxes of vegetables at SR2 to SR4, and then sell the same items to consumers at SR50,” he added.
Talal Jaber, the chief of merchants at the Halaga Central Market where fruit and vegetables are sold, said the farmers’ claims were untrue.
“We are keen to support local produce but our clients prefer imported fruit and vegetables because of higher quality, and better taste, prices and packaging,” he said, adding that some of the imported stuff was cheaper than locally produced fruit and vegetables. Jaber added that local produce was not enough to meet consumer demands in Madinah.
