Cherry producers threatened on Monday in the Ministry that they will not pick the fruit for 50 dinars – Economy

The meeting was scheduled at the invitation of that association, after they announced a boycott of harvesting and sales if the purchase price is below the production price of 100 dinars per kilogram. Last year, due to the reduced harvest, the purchase price was 180 dinars at the beginning of the harvest, and 300 dinars at the end.

“The mass picking of cherries in Vojvodina has not started yet, even though the cherries are ripe because we are boycotting sales due to low prices. Buyers offer from 50 to 80 dinars, and the few producers who decided to pick them anyway are paid up to 100 dinars per kilogram,” said Ivan Josimov, the president of the association, for Beta.

According to him, the producers are looking for “more transparent, responsible behavior and formation of the purchase price so that production costs and the survival of that branch of fruit growing are taken into account”, as well as a conversation with buyers who have not yet responded to the call for a conversation.

The owner of a cherry orchard on 15 hectares, Hranislav Stojanović from the municipality of Merošina, said that in the south of Serbia, in some areas, harvesting has begun, and that in the remaining part it will begin this weekend, but that he will not harvest if the price is 50 dinars per kilogram.

“Monikom cooler pays 80 dinars for the first class of cherries, but there are few of them due to the dry spring. They don’t buy the second class, which costs 50 dinars per kilogram,” Stojanović said.

He added that last year the “Nektar” company paid him 335 dinars per kilogram for cherries, and one customer who likes that fruit bought 60 kilograms at 400 dinars per kilogram.

Picking cherries for 50 dinars per kilogram, as he said, is not worth it because only machine picking costs from 20 to 30 dinars per kilogram, and manual picking from 50 to 60 dinars per kilogram.

Stojanović said that producers in the south of Serbia, especially in the municipality of Merošina, which is known for its local “cloud” cherries of exceptional quality in terms of acid content and dry matter, offer free cherries if someone wants to pick them.

Fruit grower Zoran Jović from the village of Rasovača in the municipality of Merošina, who grows cherries on six hectares, said that he will not pick them below the price of one euro per kilogram.

“Some customers buy cherries on a ‘small’ basis, without a final price, but at a promised price of around 50 dinars per kilogram and a promised payment. Times have changed, there are no more purchases, but the goods are bought for a certain price and paid for within a known period,” said Jović.

Due to the good harvest, this year there is a large offer of cherries on the Belgrade markets, where the price of this fruit is generally from 200 to 300 dinars.