They are looking to recruit 300 tomato pickers to work on a farm in Santa Isabel

The start of the tomato harvest has begun in the southern part of the island, and the farms are looking for labor to be able to collect as much fruit as possible and prevent production from being lost.

“We have faced a staff shortage, employees are not arriving and the work is strong and requires a lot of harvesters that we do not have. As a result, the number of ropes planted is reduced, “he said Guillermo Fernández, Producer for more than 32 years and general manager of the Gargiulo estate in Santa Isabel, one of the largest production in Puerto Rico.

Fernández indicated that the production projected for this 2021 season is 685,000 boxes. Of these, they seek to export 50%. Prior to the passage of Hurricane Maria, the Gargiulo estate exported 70% of its production.

The farm needs to recruit more than 300 collectors these days. However, it only has a third of them. Today 98 workers arrived and in previous days they have arrived a little less.

Due to the lack of labor, the Gargiulo farm has been lowering production. “Of the 800 strings we had, we were decreasing production and lowering the quantity. Today we have only 280 strings of tomatoes,” Fernandez said.

As a requirement to work picking tomatoes, you only need to have two hands and a desire to work. Pickup hours are 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and is paid at $ 7.25 an hour. Per day shift, each employee could collect 78 buckets, but if he collects more, he will be paid 65 cents for each additional bucket, as an incentive.

Workers will not lose the government benefits they receive from the Nutrition Assistance Program (PA). There are currently over 6,500 people working in agriculture enjoying this benefit, according to the administrator of the Family Socioeconomic Development Administration (ADSEF), Alberto Fradera.

The harvest will last for 14 weeks. The incentive in vain will rise to 85 cents in the case of the third collection line, once the worker exceeds 78 buckets per day.

For its part, Ramón “Pirul” González Beiró, Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, acknowledged the lack of labor in the agricultural sector. “Labor shortages have been a constant challenge in the agricultural sector, And represents a fundamental part for the execution of our agroempresarios, affecting his production and the commercialization. We need to promote that more Puerto Ricans want to enter the world of agricultural work, “he said.

González seeks to promote agricultural employability in the vegetable sector during the high harvest season and promote local consumption of fruit in Puerto Rican households. He said that under his administration will make available to farmers existing programs, as well as new initiatives to increase consumption of local produce and in turn, will establish agreements with different agencies to create strategies aimed at promoting agricultural work. .

The secretary visited the estate today in Santa Isabel, next to Fradera.

“Our approach is to strengthen marketing and present alternatives for the development of agriculture and the island’s economy, which is why, we seek to provide farmers with all available resources to position themselves nationally and internationally, however, we stress the urgent need for unemployed people to see agriculture as an employment opportunity and contribute to the development of our lands, ”the secretary added.

People interested in getting used to picking tomatoes can call 787-845-2530.