Publication of Pitkalija prices

The publication of the wholesale prices of fruit and vegetables online has been met with great scepticism by two associations of farmers and producers, which described it as a "gimmick" and as "jumping the gun".

The secretary of the Farmers' Association, Louie Naudi expressed satisfaction at the initiative, which the association had proposed over three years ago.

On the other hand, Clement Azzopardi, president of the Farmers' Central Cooperative Society, described the online posting of the Pitkalija prices as a waste of government funds.

"No one will check the prices on the website; just a small percentage of the population has the time to use it. It would be better if the prices were announced before the 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. news bulletins," Mr Azzopardi said.

But even broadcasting the prices on television was a waste of time and a throwback to previous years when there was price fixing, he added.

The wholesale prices of fruit and vegetables are being posted online twice a week on www.agric.gov.mt, allowing consumers to see the prices at which they are sold at the Pitkalija market. Eventually, the prices will also be available on the Melita information channel.

The prices used to be published by the Agriculture Department but the practice died out years ago.

Ta' Qali Producers Group CEO Peter Axisa feels the system is useless because the prices on the website are not real time but those of the previous day.

"Malta is considered to be among the top countries in IT, yet, our market relies on handwritten bits of paper handed over to the Pitkalija administration for proper recording the day after sales are carried out," he said.

While admitting the main intention was to improve the situation, Mr Axisa said jumping the gun risked doing more harm than good by causing increased confusion instead of giving consumers peace of mind.

Unless the prices were instantly inputted in the computer, the Pitkalija system would not work, he insisted.

Even if the system were updated, the prices would still not reflect reality because the Pitkalija issued the highest, medium and lowest price. Without grading the product, it was pointless publishing the prices, Mr Axisa said. Plus, he added, although cabbages, cauliflowers and lettuce were sold by the box, the prices quoted online were by the kilo.

"While the group agrees the price should be quoted by the kilo, the fact remains that fruit and vegetables have always been bought by the box," Mr Axisa explained.

Mr Naudi said that, even though an auctioning system of the fruit and vegetables was meant to be used, this was not the case. He refused to elaborate, adding only that the farmers' association was not happy with the way greens were being sold.