Farmers warn that food prices will rise within a month in the islands due to the Iran-Iraq War

PalmThe Balearic agricultural sector has conveyed its concern to the Government regarding the rise in fuel prices due to the Iran-Contra conflict. According to an internal calculation, product prices will increase in approximately one month if they do not receive aid, representatives of the farmers informed the Vice President of the Government, Antoni Costa, this Wednesday. This was explained by Jerónima Bonafé, representative of the Balearic Agri-food Cooperatives, after the meeting, as reported by Europa Press. Bonafé emphasized that fuel prices have increased by more than 60% in less than a month, and also explained that the Government has committed to providing aid to the sector to mitigate the price increases. However, the Government wants to wait to coordinate these measures with the initiatives that the Spanish Executive will announce on Friday after the Council of Ministers meeting.

For his part, the general secretary of Unió de Pagesos, Sebastià Ordinas, emphasized that profit margins in the agricultural sector are very small, so a 60% increase in fuel prices could force many businesses to close. "In an agricultural business in Mallorca, fuel costs represent between 30% and 40% of production costs," he said. Bonafé also warned that fertilizer prices have increased between 40% and 50% in recent weeks, as has animal feed. In this regard, Francesc Salvà, a technician from Asaja, explained that in an average vegetable farm, a large part of the costs depend on fertilizers.

For his part, the president of the Fishermen's Guild, Domingo Bonnín, explained that his sector anticipates a 60% increase in fuel prices and that their special tax treatment "can do nothing" to counteract inflation.