Residents denounce the unprecedented rise in “Indian” costs

Agadir 24 | Agadir24

A gaggle of residents denounced what they described because the “unprecedented” rise in “Indian” costs, coinciding with the beginning of the harvesting season for this summer time fruit in some areas.

With the looks of prickly pear sellers in a variety of streets and markets, clients flocking to them observed that the worth of this fruit had elevated considerably. After it was no more than 50 cents, it rose to 2 dirhams, then 5 dirhams, over the previous yr, to succeed in 8 dirhams right now.

These costs aroused the dissatisfaction of customers, who content material themselves with wandering between the carts to ask concerning the value with out tasting the fruit that was referred to as “the fruit of the poor” years in the past, particularly since they used to purchase it in giant portions throughout this era of every yr, however right now it has develop into out of attain for some.

In distinction, the sellers of “Al-Hindiya” thought-about that the costs of this product rise yearly, declaring that its value reaching 8 dirhams for the primary time is as a result of lack of harvest.

They revealed that they’re affected by stagnation as a result of costs are now not inexpensive for some, which prompts them to surrender buying this fruit, after they used to amass it in abundance, given its beforehand cheap value.

It must be famous that the primary motive for the rise in prickly pear costs is that its crops have been broken for years by the cochineal insect.

It’s also noteworthy that the cochineal insect appeared for the primary time in Morocco in 2014, when a variety of farmers in numerous elements of the Kingdom have been shocked by its look on cactus crops, then shortly thereafter invading hundreds of hectares of this fruit, inflicting its destruction.

This insect is characterised by its fast unfold throughout fields as a result of wind, because it feeds on the cactus plant by sucking its fluids and consuming its limbs, which ends up in its drying and loss of life.

This insect, which was reported for the primary time in Sidi Bennour, brought about farmers enormous monetary losses, after its hordes attacked tens of hundreds of hectares, and negatively affected the manufacturing of prickly pear fruit, the worth of which started to rise regularly.