Date Farmers in Jemna Region Protest Against Price Reduction
A number of date farmers in the Jemna region, in the Kébili-Sud delegation, interrupted the date harvest operation in their farms today, Thursday, as a protest against the decision of several date packers to reduce the purchase price of Deglet Nour dates. The price reduction, effective today, decreases the price from 3,500 millimes per kilogram of first-class Deglet Nour to 3,000 millimes, and from 2,500 millimes to 2,000 millimes per kilogram for the second class.
Farmers Express Surprise and Indignation
Farmers, including Hamed Al-Jalidi, Mohamed Ben Mansour, and Ali Ben Mohamed, expressed their surprise and indignation at this reduction, which they consider an "abuse against the farmer's effort to maintain the quality of the harvest during this season." They emphasized that the new price adopted by the packers does not take into account the production costs, considering the interventions required by the palm tree throughout the agricultural season, from cleaning to pollination, propping, treatment against the red spider pest, and packaging of the dates to protect them from climate variations, until the harvest phase, not to mention the high cost and scarcity of labor.
Farmers Affected by Price Reduction
The farmers also stated that the farmer is currently "the weakest link" in the date production chain, given the pressures they face, particularly during the marketing of the harvest. They indicated that the farmer is supposed to receive the largest share of the revenue from the sale of the product to enable them to preserve the oasis and improve productivity and quality, rather than being exposed to all sorts of constraints and price reductions. This could encourage many farmers to abandon their farms and desert the agricultural sector, which is one of the essential pillars of the economy.
Call for Intervention
The farmers added that they were forced to accept the price of 3,500 millimes per kilogram for the first class, although this price is originally contrary to the tariff set during the meeting of exporters and agricultural structures held at the headquarters of the Groupement Professionnel Commun des Dattes on October 14, where the price was supposed to be around 5,200 millimes per kilogram for the first class and 4,500 millimes for the second class. They called on regional authorities and agricultural sector officials to intervene to protect farmers from the "greed of exporters and their impact on the livelihoods of the region's inhabitants, given that date production is the backbone of the economic movement in these areas."
Solidarity and Solution
The farmers urged all producers to take action against the reduction in the purchase price of dates and to refrain from harvesting until a satisfactory solution is found that takes into account, even relatively, the production costs, especially since the price reduction coincided with the start of the harvest season, which has not lasted more than 15 days.
