TEHRAN, Iran, Feb.18
Trend:
Prices for fruits and vegetables in Iran need to be revised by the Ministry of Agriculture, said the head of Tehran Fruit and Vegetables Sellers Union.
Assadollah Kargar talked about objections of some farmers to low prices of cucumber at the market in an interview with Trend.
"Of course, the Ministry of Agriculture should address the issue of the prices; farmers' attempt to destroy their products was due to their oversupply in market. Therefore, it's natural that farmers objected to the prices suggested by dealers," Kargar said adding that the retailer's prices are defined with participation of the union's members.
"Fruit sellers across Tehran can only set the prices by 35 percent more than the price of the products purchased from distributors. But if they want to compete with each other, they can increase prices by 10 percent. The union announced the price ceiling, but hasn't set the price floor," Kargar said.
In his words, the price of cucumber in markets varies between 30,000 rials (about 71 cents) and 50,000 rials (about $1.1), but can't be less than 30,000 rials.
"The export of some products has become difficult or was even banned due to the sanctions, and the recent ban on export of Iran's agricultural products to Iraq has complicated the situation," the head of the union added.
"The union has constantly discussed the issue of prices with the Ministry of Agriculture in order to have more coordination with farmers in various parts of the country. The Ministry of Agriculture should change the export plan so farmers would not face further loss and it also should provide subsidies to farmers or buy their products," he said.
According to him, the production of one kilo of cucumber costs from 6,000 rials (about 14 cents) to 7,000 rials (about 16 cents), and it is does not have economic profit for the farmers.