THE COUNAGA AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVE HAS BEEN HEADED TO CLOSURE.

Its virulence and the damage it caused was known., but it was never imagined that it would cause havoc in such a resounding way in the Canary Islands.. The damage that the tuta is causing to the tomato export sector is beginning to be “very serious and worrying”.

The president of the Cooperative Union of Farmers and Ranchers of Sardina del Sur, Counaga, Cesáreo Vega Pérez stated to Agroaldea What “the situation was already unsustainable, If the losses continued, they would have led us to total ruin.”.

Vega explained that the virulence of Tuta in the south of Gran Canaria will continue to take its toll on more producers and cooperatives.. The president of Counaga recognizes that not having adapted the structures: mesh changes preferably, has allowed the tuta to have decimated production in a dizzying manner.

The eight members that make up the cooperative are demoralized. Vega recognizes that the only possibility of continuing is through investment in the adaptation of structures, but in times like these, The shortage of currency further complicates the situation.

The president of Counaga believes that the next campaign will further reduce the surface in the south of the island. “There are many who announce that they are leaving it, it is not worth continuing to invest in a bottomless bag”.

Many of the partners are replanting to dedicate part of the production to the local market, However, of the 43 hectares that cultivate, What they have allocated to this market does not reach half.

Cesáreo affirms that they will wait until the end of the campaign to make a final decision about the next campaign.

The tuta has been stronger and, for now, start winning the battle. Some technicians state that not all necessary measures were taken to protect crops against this pest., that the attacks they have caused in other areas and the cost they have entailed were already known.

It seems that the situation in the south of Tenerife is not much better either.. The incidence of tuta is causing serious damage in which the measures to be used are not giving good results..