The Government of Panama will support industrial tomato producers with certified seed and add US$1 per quintal in their sales so that they can increase their productivity and meet the needs of the Nestlé company, in the purchase of their production.

The head of the Panamanian agricultural portfolio Augusto Valderrama held a meeting with the producers and the Nestlé company, during a work tour he made in Coclé, where he also visited several rice productions.

The measure is taken in the face of the concern of industrial tomato producers who lacked the seed for the cultivation of the item. More than 120 producers, mainly from the provinces of Los Santos and Herrera, sell about 12,000 tons of industrial tomato to the Nestlé company alone.

The company has already guaranteed the total purchase of the 2023-2024 harvest, but there was a concern about the lack of seed in the face of the demand, said Celestino Rivera, president of the Association of Industrial Tomato Producers.

Given the feasibility of producers having the certified seed for the production of the item, the planting of more than 250 hectares will begin to meet the company’s demand, Rivera said.

For his part, Minister Valderrama stressed that the meeting shows that agreements can be reached between private enterprise, government and producers, which benefit the country, generating jobs and contributing to food security, making agriculture a tool for social stability.