Honduran banana growers say they need more financial support from Chiquita's subsidiary the Tela Railroad Company in order to protect them from adverse weather events damaging production. 

José Obregón, who represents three farms under the COHFRUTSA group, told www.freshfruitportal.com currently producers absorbed all the costs relating to crop loss.

"Right now the problem is that we've been affected by climatic events that have really hit our production, and so the growers are in a lot of financial difficulty and they need to somehow recuperate what they have lost," Obregón said.

"Some sort of financial support is definitely needed, whether it be from Chiquita or the government to help improve the productivity of their plantations.

"There is very little support from local banks, who are bound by the regulations of the National Commission on Banking and Insurance."

Grower representatives meet annually with Tela Railroad to discuss new prices they will be paid for the year, amongst other issues. The first of the talks took place yesterday (Dec. 2).

"We had the first meeting and presented our offer, and they told us they are going to analyze it and phone us when we can continue speaking about it. That's where we're at," Obregón said.

Growers have reportedly requested government assistance in these negotiations to secure a better deal, but Obregón said it had maintained a position of non-intervention.

"Here we use CAFTA [The Central America and Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement] which prevents the government from intervening in banana export prices, as is the case in many other countries," he said.

According to Obregón, around half of producers in Honduras sell they bananas to Tela Railroad, with Dole buying the other half.

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