Food is the commodity that has least resisted inflation. Markets were just recovering when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, a geopolitical event that had ramifications for all agriculture, especially those countries that depended on fertilizers and inputs for agricultural production, such as Colombia .
The government’s short-term solutions focus on subsidizing 120,000 small producers to purchase inputs through 10,000 retail establishments, and of that total, 20% of the purchase of simple or compound fertilizers for crops or food will be reimbursed. cases of livestock activities.
While that is a relief for that small slice of producers, it falls short of the basic solution, given that the food and soft drinks item does not break the hand and continues to score this year’s CPI, which already stands at 12 , 2%, to levels not seen for 23 years.
If we add to this a winter wave with levels that exceed normal rainfall in some regions by up to 40%, agriculture is going through one of its worst crises.
Fruits are the most affected, as some crops, such as mangoes, are very delicate during flowering, and excess moisture damages them. This causes producers to not plant and end up with low supply which explains why they have had increases in their different varieties of up to 80%.
Some municipalities such as Ráquira and Aquitania, in Boyacá, have seen how floods have put an end to the planting of products such as onions, and these losses translate into lower supply and higher costs for the consumer.
At the moment the government also intends to offer aid to those affected by the winter wave.
