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Max Hernandez - San Carlos Farmer
"What we understand right now is that they have already stopped importing but those who are at the top have given license to one person who is now affecting us. He is monopolizing all the importation including carrots, and now our one is left here."

Norberto Santos - Farmer
"Well honestly, it's greatly affecting us because like my colleague Max said we owe in credit union and DFC. We are working with a Mennonite from shipyard who gives us pesticides, but right now the Mennonite doesn't want to give us more. I don't know what's going to happen because I already lost half an acre of carrots. I couldn't sell anything."

Reporter
"How many acres did you have?"

Norberto Santos - Farmer
"I only had half an acre, and I already lost everything. I couldn't even sell one little sack."

Max Hernandez Jr. - Farmer
"We have approximately one acre of carrots where we haven't sold not even one sack. Meanwhile about 90% of the carrots is already going bad. We are asking the Ministry of Agriculture to have a conscious and to support us in at the very least closing the license for the importation of carrots and to control the contrabanding of carrots so that we can have a better living."

Max Hernandez - San Carlos Farmer
"If the Ministry of Agriculture is saying that we need to diversify and not just think in cane, then where is the support? We demand support because we have kids to maintain."

Keylie Hernandez - Daughter of Farmer
"I am here to ask the Honorable Gaspar Vega to help all the farmers sell all their vegetables because if we can't sell it how will we eat, how will we get dressed? I ask that Gaspar Vega have a heart because if we don't sell, we won't eat, and we won't be able to go to school."

Now because of the local farmer's inability to supply local demand for carrots year-round, the Government issues license to import carrots from Mexico. According to the Chief Agriculture Officer, Roberto Harrison, the local supply is at an estimated 35 thousand pounds per week while the local demand is at a 42 thousand pounds per week. Harrison affirms that the Ministry has done all it can to create a smooth phasing out of imported carrots and so is puzzled why farmers in the north are faced with this dilemma.

Robert Harrion - Chief Agriculture Officer
"We did in fact issue 2 small permits for the importation to offset that weekly demand. Small, in that it wouldn't have in anyway affected the local supply coming in, so that it muse me and why they would not be able to sell their local supply is not being sold in the local market. We know that we have been able to save in the local production quite well while phasing out almost completely licenses for the importation of carrots."

Reporter
"What can the ministry do at this time to intervene?"

Robert Harrion - Chief Agriculture Officer
"As I said, we are monitoring it because it seems that there is an oversupply. That means that there could be an increase in the contraband of carrots in this case. We do have now the potatoes crop has started to come in another week, 2 weeks followed by onion. So, we are monitoring these things very closely from the local productions standpoint and from the import standpoint. I've visited the market this morning and there seems to be quite a bit of local carrots in the market place now."

The Ministry says that it regrets any loss of production, especially to small farmers. Harrison concedes that more can be done in the area of communication with the small farmers and on the fight against contraband products. We will keep monitoring this situation.