Consumers will soon feel full effect of increase in global prices – PM

VINCENTIAN consumers may soon begin to feel the full effect of the increase in global prices, when the next shipment of fertilizer is landed here.

Earlier this year, the government subsidized the last shipment of fertilizer to arrive here by $420,000, Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves said.

With another shipment of this vital input for the local agricultural sector on the way, government now has to find close to $600,000 to subsidize the fertilizer, so that it will be affordable to farmers.

The Prime Minister was speaking on Star Radio on Tuesday July 12 when he made the disclosure.

He referred to a letter dated July 1, 2022 which was sent by the Agricultural Input Warehouse (AIW) to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture Nerissa Gittens.

In the letter, the AIW spoke of increases in freight and item costs.

The next shipment of fertilizer is expected in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) in two weeks time and will be landed at a much higher cost than before.

Gonsalves indicated that government is now required to pay $594,000 in subsidies for the fertilizer when it is landed here later this month.

Apart from higher freight cost, the price for the fertilizers, with the exception of urea, have all been increased.

This announcement has already sparked a wave of anxiety among some farmers, who are now wondering how they will be able to afford the higher price.

“We are going through so much already with people stealing our crops and traffickers paying us next to nothing, but the price of the fertilizer keeps rising,” one concerned farmer told SEARCHLIGHT.

The Prime Minister also admitted that the increasing cost of fertilizer “puts pressure on the farmers.”

He said that this relates to production and to more expenses for the farmers.

At the end of the chain, Vincentian consumers will also have to pay an increased prices for agricultural products.

Many persons, especially in the rural areas have already resorted to re-planting their back yard gardens in anticipation of the increase in food prices globally.

The fertilizers expected in the coming shipment are: NPK fertilizer, sulphate of ammonia, urea and vegetable fertilizer.