Belgian fruit growers are in deep trouble. The last ten years have changed this sector dramatically. This change is due to the Russian boycott and the ever-increasing, intense competition from overseas. At auction, these farmers only get EUR0,25 per kg of apples. According to one Belgian fruit grower, traders buy a lot of fruit from Spain and Morocco, where it is a free-for-all.
This, while farmers in Belgium are controlled by all kinds of agencies. About 40 growers a week are throwing in the towel. A Facebook petition has since been started. Here, Flemish and Walloon growers are raising the alarm. They are asking for more understanding from their clients and the government with regard to regulations. We asked Luc Vanoirbeek for a response from the Federation of Belgian Horticultural Cooperatives (VBT).
“We, at the VBT, have an enormous amount of understanding for the precarious situation that the fruit growers currently find themselves in. The market is under tremendous pressure which is seriously depressing prices", said the VBT's Luc Vanoirbeek. “The VBT has taken the initiative to get our European counterparts to meet to see if we can find solutions to this issue. These solutions have to be decisive, and we must be able to implement them in the short term. Some relief must be found for the European fruit market. It needs to be brought into balance."
Agricultural Council
"In the long term, we need to be honest with ourselves and put corrective measures into place for apple and pear production. This is abundantly clear. With regard to further initiatives, we have asked the Belgian Minister of Agriculture to raise this point at the upcoming Agricultural Council. We, at the VBT, have asked our European colleagues to relay this problem to their governments. It is not only affecting Belgium. We have already met with the French and Italians. However, we have also asked our Dutch and German partners to share our concerns", Vanoirbeek continues.
Plantings
“Farmers are raising the alarm in Belgium, but the whole of the European sector is affected by this. The VBT admits there is a problem and has a lot of understanding for the fruit growers. We need to implement measures in the immediate future. We need to set a minimum price in the market. In the medium and long-term, we must consider volume restrictions. Here, it is important that, in future, care should be taken in the way new plantations are supported and stimulated in an already-overfull market. This concern the expansion of plantations, not modernizing the sector”, concludes Luc.
