The tomato crisis erupted in northern Argentina: There is an excess of production, consumption has fallen, costs are rising, and imports are competing.

The comments made by the various horticultural producers dedicated to growing tomatoes in Jujuy and Salta are more or less the same: “They offer us between 3,000 and 4,000 pesos per crate and in some cases up to 2,000 pesos”. “With this year’s price, we can’t cover the costs”. “We harvest the tomato only because many people depend on it, otherwise it would stay in the plant” “Companies like Otito, two years ago, offered us 1,200 pesos per disposal cage, and today, barely 600 pesos, and the cost is 500 pesos per picker’s cage”. The situation worsens to such an extent that this Thursday some producers moved to the Plaza Manuel Belgrano in the Jujuy capital to carry out a “tomato protest”, distributing their product to those passing by the protest area. “We producers are throwing away a lot of vegetables, that’s why we brought it here, to share it with people who need it and so the government pays us a little more attention because the situation is very critical,” said a producer ...