After the recent measure announced by Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), to increase the price of diesel fuel to the industrial sector, producers in Guárico State reject this decision which will further affect Venezuelan farming.
Correspondent lapatilla.com
“Resolution by which the price of diesel fuel for the industrial sector is adjusted, up to zero point thirty-two US dollar cents per liter (0.32 U.S. dollars per liter),” reads part of what was published in the Official Gazette, in resolution 0014 of the Ministry of Petroleum.
This increase up to 0.32 cents on the dollar is considered a hard blow to the productive sectors of Guárico, which were already having serious difficulties even buying the necessary amount of diesel fuel destined for planting.
According to the testimony of the producer Rafael Meza, the farmers will end up paying almost double what was established by PDVSA, since one must include the costs from the distributor to the final consumer.
“To the 0.32 cents at the distributor level, one must add the freight charges to bring it from the production plant to the distribution plant and from there to our distribution sites, called the producer association, and so it then reaches the producer. Fuel will suffer an increase to a final price estimated to be 0.45 to 0.52, it all depends on the distance that the diesel travels,” he pointed out.
In the same way, Meza stressed that for one hectare of crops, approximately 100 liters of diesel are used, and according to the figures that the Chavista regional government handles it projected to sow 350,000 hectares in the next cycle, to that end some 35 million liters of fuel would be necessary to reach that goal.
“Then they should send us a little more than 3 million liters, and that amount is not delivered. This means that we cannot have the machinery required to sow that area operational. The area to be planted will be much smaller,” he pointed out.
On the other hand, the director of the Producers Association of the Guárico State (Aprolegua) recalled that today, with the all problems faced by farm workers such as lack of financing, supplies, road problems and fuel shortages, all this has caused many to work at a loss or “without winning or losing.”
“Diesel became very expensive for us and made production in the field quite uphill since our costs are very high compared to neighboring countries,” he remarked.
According to the trade unionist, for the next corn sowing cycle, Guárico will have close to 56,000 hectares, “well below what was planned by us and the producer associations. Those are the numbers and the fuel has a lot to blame for this situation we are experiencing.”