RADA Successful in Finding Markets for Excess Tomatoes

The Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) has been successful in its drive to help farmers find outlets for the excess tomatoes that are on the local market.
In an interview with JIS News, Marketing Manager for RADA, Byron Henry, said that more than 10,000 pounds of tomatoes were sold last week through this initiative and the effort will continue as long as is necessary.
“We have made contact with a number of persons including higglers, we are in discussion with processors and we expect them to take some of the tomatoes, and we are currently in dialogue with some importers to see if they can take some of the salad types,” he informed.
According to Mr. Henry, the glut on the market could be blamed in part, on the fact that farmers have been slow in reporting high crop yields to RADA.
“In general, farmers tend to respond to high prices and because you had that situation in November and December, farmers put in a large amount of tomatoes. I think we were brought into the picture when they saw that the tomatoes were not moving and even when they were trying to reduce prices, it was still not moving,” the Marketing Manager said.
He encouraged farmers to call their nearest RADA office even before planting, so as to be advised on trends and marketing opportunities.