OSIJEK, July 2 (Hina) - An association of farmers from Slavonia and Baranja (ZUSSB) maintains the milling and baking industry's stand that one kilogram of wheat should cost 0.7 kuna is unacceptable due to low inducements and high
production costs, ZUSSB leaders said on Tuesday.
OSIJEK, July 2 (Hina) - An association of farmers from Slavonia and
Baranja (ZUSSB) maintains the milling and baking industry's stand
that one kilogram of wheat should cost 0.7 kuna is unacceptable due
to low inducements and high production costs, ZUSSB leaders said on
Tuesday. #L#
Representatives of the milling and baking industry in the
Zitozajednica interest group said on Monday they would not purchase
this year's wheat yield from peasant farms at the price of one kuna
per kilo. They said this price was too high and the result of a
political agreement, and that they would wait until it dropped to
0.7 kuna per kilo.
Farmers cannot consent to the latter price "due to inducements
which are considerably lower than in the European Union and
Croatia's neighbours, to which the milling and baking industry
refers," ZUSSB president Antun Laslo told Hina.
"The average inducement for arable land in Hungary is US$170 per
hectare as against US$70 in Croatia. When we reach that level, we
can talk about a lower price," said Laslo.
He added it was unlikely that purchasers, who recently signed a one
kuna per kilo wheat purchase agreement, would follow the milling
and baking industry and lower the price. The government will keep
its part of the deal and pay out the difference, he said.
"If the government failed to do so, farmers would take to the
streets en masse," said Laslo.
This year's wheat yield is expected to be high, with surplus
exceeding 200,000 tonnes.
(hina) ha sb