El Caribe newspaper reports that shoppers are finally getting a break in supermarket purchases – at least, on locally-produced goods. Farm products reached record-high prices, given the sluggish production and increased costs of transportation and production in general.
Since last week, prices for farm produce have declined considerably, as a result of thousands of planted crops by farmers stimulated by the same record prices their produce was bringing in. Tomatoes – which were considered attractively priced at RD$25 a pound days ago – are now selling for RD$10 a pound. Peppers, which shocked consumers when they sold for RD$70 a pound, are now available for less than RD$20 a pound. Shoppers can buy a pound of chayote for RD$9, down from RD$20; lettuce for RD$8, down from RD$20; potatoes for RD$13, down from RD$18; eggplant for RD$10, down from RD$20; and onions for RD$22, down from RD$35. Prices are even lower on mid-week sales days advertised by the supermarkets.
Stimulated by the higher prices, and by free seed programs implemented by the government, farmers that had abandoned the fields set out to produce, thus the present market surplus.
According to El Caribe, however, this bonanza may not last long. It explains that while the rains of November and December caused the scarcity that spurred the high prices, the reality of high production costs lingers on.
Now, farmers are already complaining that with the abundance on the market, the supermarkets are paying far less than they had expected to get for their crops, and they are not recovering their costs nor is there much incentive to plant again.