Çerma farmers have gathered this morning in protest of the low price at which their watermelon produce is being bought by the centers at the peak of the harvest season.
They blame the collection points in Divjaka that according to them are deliberately lowering the price for the watermelon of Çerma.
Divjaka watermelon they say is sold at a price of up to 40 old lek per kilogram, while Çerma watermelon, which has been on the market for almost a week, is not sold for more than 10 lek per kilogram. Also unlike other years where traders from Kosovo came to farmers’ plots, this year no truck from Kosovo approached the farmers as they were directed to the collection points.
Farmers say that the cost is very high as the prices of the whole watermelon cultivation process doubled, starting from seeds, chemical fertilizers, inputs, fuel, etc.
Supporting them was socilist MP Erion Brace, who has long been the government’s opposition voice for farmers, accusing collection points and traders of abusing prices.
At a price of 10 lek/ kg these farmers are immersed, and the problem is that it is not an individual who is immersed but the largest economy in this country. The area of Çerma is one of the largest in the cultivation of watermelon with about 100 hectares of plantations, which is now in danger of rotting.
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