Onion farmers with the Minister of Agriculture and the BMDC

 Onion farmers from the north have met with the Minister of Agriculture, and the Marketing and Development Corporation to discuss issues facing farmers in the industry. The onion production meeting was held yesterday at the Corozal ITVET facility. The second of three ordinary meetings focused on production forecasts, quality, and supply and demand for the year for this crop season. The meeting, most importantly, included the issues raised recently by onion growers relating to the marketing of onions at the early harvest stage. A discussion was held with farmers around the issues of market access for local products, importation, contraband and quality of local products, with clarifications on the process of issuing import licenses. Topics such as improved communication and increased checks between sector stakeholders were also discussed with the attendees; they agreed to improve their provision of data to the Ministry and to meet more often when having concerns, while the Ministry for its part agreed to ensure data checks were carried out accurately. The BMDC also agreed to alleviate market sales for producers through the purchasing of available onions for the next two weeks while imported amounts deplete the local market.