Canarian banana growers benefit from major grant
Banana growers from the Canary Islands are set to cash in on the lasted budget announcement from Spain's Ministry of Agriculture.
Of nearly US$100 million awarded in the latest grant announcement, US$95.7 million have been designated to banana producers through the Canary Agricultural Production Community Support Program (POSEI).
The award represents less than half of the US$192 million planned for the crop's development in part of the EU's European Agricultural Guarantee Fund.
The Canary Islands is renowned for its banana production but faces stiff competition from Latin American producers, such as Ecuador, which fixes purchases from growers at US$6 per 41.5lbs box.
Based on such prices, the latest European Union assistance package could hypothetically cover the price of nearly 16 million boxes of Ecuadorian bananas.
Under this week's announcement, an additional US$3.1 million were granted for tomato export marketing and US$725,000 to improve honey production.
A total of 7,606 banana growers will benefit from the grants, followed by 21 tomato producers and 981 honey producers.
Photo: www.shutterstock.com
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